Harry Leaves the Wizarding World
by wulfler
Summary: After the fiasco at MOM, Harry is rejected by most of his friends. He decides to leave the Wizarding World. A Plot Bunny that has been running around my head lately. The rating change is for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

Gringotts Wizarding Bank

Diagon Alley

London, England

A young man approached the giant gilded doors of Gringotts Wizarding Bank. Looking neither left nor right, he marched up the steps leading into the bank. The goblin guards stationed on either side of the doors viewed him with suspicion before opening the doors to let the young man in.

The young man was wearing a plain black cloak with the hood pulled up to hide his features. He was a little below average height for one of his age, almost 16 years old. His stride told everyone else in the Alley that he did not want to be approached at all and that he had a definite destination in mind.

Entering the bank, the young man approached the teller with the shortest line. Trying to remain as unobtrusive as possible, he waited for his turn with the goblin teller. While he was waiting for his turn, the young man started to reflect back over the past few weeks that had led him to this point in time.

Several weeks ago, the young man had led five of his friends on a quest to save his godfather from the hands of a mad man. The torture was supposedly taking place in the Department of Mysteries in the Ministry of Magic. Knowing it was most likely a trap, he had tried to stop his friends from accompanying him. Each one had insisted on coming along to help out. That had turned out to be a major mistake.

Just like he had figured, it was trap. He and his five friends had wound up facing off against 12 of the most vicious Death Eaters in Voldemort's ranks. They had been holding their own for the first few minutes until a silenced Death Eater cursed Hermione taking her out of the fight. Everyone else had slowly been taken out one by one until only he and one other remained.

In a chamber with a strange archway, he had fled with only Neville Longbottom still in the fight. Finally realizing that he had led his friends to their deaths, he had given the prophecy over to the leader of the Death Eaters, Lucius Malfoy.

Against all odds, his godfather had arrived with several members of the Order of the Phoenix. The battle was rejoined. At the end of the battle, his godfather was killed when he fell through the strange archway. In a blinding rage, he had pursued the one who had caused his godfather's death, Bellatrix LaStrange.

In the Atrium of the Ministry, he and Bellatrix dueled. The duel was interrupted when the one calling himself Lord Voldemort appeared. Before he could be killed, Professor Dumbledore appeared out of a floo fireplace. Dumbledore and Voldemort dueled until the snake like man tried to possess him and cause his death. The pain had been unbearable until he was able to push Voldemort out of his mind.

After the battle, he was sent back to the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts. The following discussion that had taken place had been very enlightening to the young man. It had also left him with a profound sense of weight. He was a marked man.

Upon leaving the Headmaster's office, the weary young man had gone to the hospital wing to check on his friends. As soon as he had entered, all of those that were conscious, turned on him saying that he was the reason that they had been injured and that they never would never talk with him again. It was all his fault. When he had tried to point out that he had not wanted them to come with him in the first place, the five that were awake hadn't listened to him at all. Madam Pomfrey had in the end forced him to leave the wing.

Returning the following morning to the hospital wing, the weary young man had ignored those that were still in the wing and had approached the bed containing the only unconscious person left, Hermione Granger. Not knowing if she would blame him or not, he had sat down next to her and grasped her hand.

Over the next several hours, the emerald eyed young man had thought about several things and come to some conclusions. He had stood up from the chair, leaned over the prone figure on the bed and had whispered into her ear that really cared about her and that he hoped that she would eventually forgive him for getting her injured. He had then given her a chaste kiss on her forehead. Before leaving the room, he had left note next to her that was spelled so that only she could open it.

Returning to the room that he had shared with the fifth year boys, Harry had collected his all of his things and packed them into his trunk. Making sure that he had everything and that the room was empty, he called for Dobby to take him to number 12 Grimmauld Place. Dobby had complied.

Once there, he had stayed in the bedroom that he had shared with one of his former friends. Collapsing on the bed, he had drifted off into the sleep of the dead. Dobby had spelled the door so it could not be opened.

His thoughts were interrupted by the goblin teller asking him what he wanted in a gruff mannor.

"I have some private business that I need to take care of," Harry said politely. "Could you be kind enough to ask my account manager if he has the time to see me?"

"Key please," demanded the goblin.

Harry handed it over to the goblin. Once the inspection process was over, the goblin teller told Harry to wait in one of the private meeting rooms that lined the side of the large room. Harry thanked the goblin, retrieved his key and made his way over to the suggested room.

Once inside the plush office, Harry took one of the chairs that was placed in front of the ornate desk. He resumed his musings.

He had stayed in the room for a few days just thinking. Dobby had been bringing him his meals and had turned a section of the room into a small bathroom for his use. Still wondering about Hermione, he had asked Dobby to keep an eye on her and to make sure that she was going to be ok.

After the days of brooding, he had finally left the room and had wandered down to the kitchen. The confrontation that had followed between himself, Remus Lupin and Molly Weasley had been epic. It had finally ended when Lupin had said that he should have died instead of his godfather. More angry than he had ever been in his young life, he had then stormed out of the house making sure to wake up the insane portrait of Sirius' mother. When he had left, he and those left in the house were no longer friends.

Once clear of the wards, he had summoned the Knight Bus to take him to Privet Drive. He had needed some time to think about what he could do in light of the current situation.

He had made sure that he had arrived on the doorstep of #4 well before his uncle was due home. His confrontation with his aunt had been short but intense. He had informed her that all he needed was few days to sort some things out, that he wouldn't be a bother and that he would let her know what his decisions would be.

Over the course of the next several days, he had stayed in his room, only going out of it to use the bathroom. Dobby had continued to bring him his meals and bring him updates on Hermione's condition. Besides Dobby and his owl Hedwig, who had shown up just after he did, his only other visitor had been Auror Tonks. She had been sent to check up on him when it was realized that he had returned to Privet Drive. She had stayed for only a little bit, then had left.

On the fifth day of his self imposed isolation at Privet Drive, he had come to some conclusions based on what he had learned from the Headmaster and reflecting over several of the major events that had happened in his life so far. The conclusions that he had come to were irrefutable based on the evidence of his so-called life.

He had decided that it was time to leave the Wizarding World and not come back. Since his friends and Lupin had turned on him and the one person that he had started to consider to be a grandfather had been manipulating his life from the get go, it was time to break ranks and leave. He had concluded that since there was nothing left for him to fight for in the Wizarding World, it was time to move on and live his life as best he could until Voldemort came to end it.

These thoughts and conclusions had brought him to Gringotts. If he was going to disappear, he needed to set some things in order first.

A polite cough brought him out of his musings. A tiny goblin was sitting behind the desk looking attentively at Harry. He also had several files and scrolls with him

"Oh, sorry," Harry said sheepishly. "I was thinking about some things that I need to do. Can you help me out, Master Griphook?"

The shock was evident on the goblin's features.

"You remember my name, Lord Potter?"

Smiling at the tiny goblin, Harry nodded his head.

"Yes I do, Master Griphook. You were the first goblin that I met here at Gringotts and you were the one who took me down to my vault for the first time. Please, I am just Harry. I have done nothing great enough to be called 'Lord'. Besides, from my understanding of goblin society, you earned your position, I apparently, am just inheriting it."

Again taken aback by the attitude of this young wizard, Griphook had to smile.

"Very well then, Harry. You may call me Griphook then. Now how can Gringotts help you today?"

Leaning forward in his chair, Harry studied the tiny goblin in front of him for a moment before speaking.

"I have learned a few things recently that have led me to the conclusion that I need a break from the Wizarding World for a while. I don't know how long I will be gone for so I need to setup some way for me to access my vault from the Muggle world and possibly withdraw Muggle currency. Is there a way to do this?"

Cocking his head to one side, Griphook studied the young man in front of him. Nodding to himself, he began to speak.

"You of course know that since you are still underage you will not be able to access every Potter vault, only your trust vault. However we can arrange for you to have what is called a debit card. It will act just like a Muggle credit card, but will deduct the amount of the purchase directly from your trust vault, Harry. Understand?"

"Um, what do you mean 'every Potter vault'? I thought that I only had the one vault. How can there be more than the one vault?"

"Are you not aware of just who the Potters are, Harry," Griphook said in shocked voice.

Shrugging, Harry said that no one had every told him about his family history, only about his parents.

"Harry, you are the sole heir to a Wizarding line that can be traced back to Godric Gryffindor and to Merlin. Your Family has been very helpful to other magical races that inhabit magical world, especially goblins. Without your family's support over the years, we would not be where we are today."

Pulling out a very large piece of parchment, Griphook expanded it.

"As you can see here, Harry, your line stretches back to a time when the Greeks and Romans ruled the known world. Your line is the oldest known line still in existence. There are a few others almost as old as yours, but they reside in Asia, Australia or in other European Countries."

Harry was gobsmacked. This couldn't be real, it had to be a joke, but the goblins had never lied to him. He also knew that goblin documents could not be duplicated or forged. Looking at his account manager, Harry's eyes showed his shock.

"Yes, Harry, this is real. It is all true. We goblins who work for the Ancient Families can not lie to our account holders. It is why we have the trust of the Ancient Families."

Harry simply nodded.

"On another matter, it would seem that you are the main beneficiary of Sirius Black. There are a few other distributions from the estate, but you will also be taking over the Black Family House as well, Harry. There will be a reading of his will next month on the 10th at 10 in the morning. You are required to attend Harry."

He nodded again.

At this point, the desk dinged. Griphook simply opened a drawer and pulled out a simple but elegant wallet. Looking it over to make sure that everything was in order, he passed it over to Harry.

"That Harry, is a magical wallet that will allow you to withdraw Muggle currency in any form that you choose. There is also the debit card in there that we talked about earlier. The wallet is shielded against theft and detection. You can also use it to withdraw Magical currency as well. Is there anything else that you require, Harry?"

Looking over the wallet and checking out the debit card, Harry was lost in thought for a few moments.

"Actually, there is, Griphook. Who has access to the Potter Family Vaults? And do you have a way to remove spells from a person? Also, did my parents leave have a will?"

Pulling out another sheet of parchment, Griphook looked at it for a moment. He had decided to take the questions in order of relevance.

"Access to your trust is limited to you , your magical guardian and your godfather. Before you ask, your magical guardian is Albus Dumbledore. And it would seem that there have been some withdrawals before you rejoined the magical world, Harry. Did you receive any money prior to your first personal withdrawal?"

"Um, no," Harry said thoughtfully. "According to my relatives, I have been nothing but a burden to them and have cost them loads of money to house and feed."

There was a dangerous glint in his eyes as he said this.

"I see," Griphook said gravely. "We will have to investigate where that money went. None of your other vaults have been touched except to add the interest gained over time. Do you wish to make any changes to your access list?"

With a nasty grin, Harry gleefully informed the goblin to remove Dumbledore from the access list.

"As for your parents, yes there is a will. It has not been executed though for some reason. Would you like it to be executed now or at the will reading for Lord Black?"

"I guess now is as good a time as any," Harry sighed.

"Very well, Harry."

Opening another file on the desk, Griphook read through the parchment in it. After a few moments of reading, the tiny goblin looked up at Harry.

"It's a pretty standard Head of House will, Harry. There are a few distributions, but nothing unusual. You will have to get married to the lady of your choice within a year of you reaching your age of majority or if you are emancipated before that time. You will also have to produce an heir within the following year. As of now, you have access to several properties. We can place one of them under Fidelius Charm if you wish."

"Also, there are some personal letters here from your parents."

Griphook handed them over to Harry along with the list of residences that he now owned.

"You also have various forms for ownership is several businesses throughout the Magical and Muggle world. Your rate of return from those ventures is enough for you to live quite comfortably for the rest of your life. There is a curious note here from my predecessor. You own 100% of Grunnings, the drill manufacturer. The company was purchased completely just prior to your parent's death. Do you know anything about that, Harry?"

Leaning back in his chair, a thoughtful expression crossed his features. From the list of residences, he knew that he owned the house that he had stayed in for most of his life. Now he had just found out that he completely owned the company that his uncle worked at. A slow smile gained prominence.

"Master Griphook, can you arrange for someone to go over to Grunnings and look into the actions of the company? Especially anything that deals with my uncle. He is one of the Directors there, I think."

Again, the tiny goblin cocked his head to the side. A nasty grin appeared on the goblin's face. It would have scared a lesser person than Harry.

"Of course, Lord Potter. It shall be done as soon as this meeting is over with."

Nodding, Harry returned to the list of properties. Griphook then brought the final question.

"Harry, why do you need a healer or cursebreaker to remove spells that have been placed on someone?'

"Huh," Harry stated with confusion, then he remember his question from earlier. "Oh, something that Dumbledore said to me awhile back. Something about watching me more closely than I had realized. I am wondering if he had placed some sort of tracking or monitoring spell on me is all."

Shocked by the way that the young man in front of him said it, Griphook immediately called for both a healer and a cursebreaker. They arrived within moments.

Turning to the newly arrived beings, Griphook stated his request that Harry be scanned for abnormal spells. The two others set to work, while Harry kept reading the properties list.

"Griphook, what can you tell me about this place in the Bahamas?"

Looking at his own list of properties, Griphook had to smile at Harry's choice.

"That has been a vacation home for the Potters since mid 1700s Harry. It also comes with a few elves to help keep the place in working order."

"And this one in Italy?"

"That one was purchased in the late 1800s as a retreat for the Potter House to hold Family meetings and reunions. I understand that is has a very nice view and it also has a few elves who keep it in working order."

"I would like to stay at that one for the time being. Is there any way I can get there by portkey?"

"Of course Harry. Just one moment."

By this time, the healer and cursebreaker had both completed their scans of Harry. They both looked at Griphook. He nodded for them to list their results. The healer spoke first.

"Lord Potter, there appears to be a non standard tracking spell placed on you along with a health monitoring charm. Both of them can be removed safely."

"Lord Potter," the curesebreaker said in a gruff voice, "along with those two spells there is also a loyalty spell that seems to be fading rapidly and a minor block on your metamorph ability. Those can also be removed without any danger to you. Do you want me to remove the spells?"

In complete shock, Harry could only nod his head in agreement. The healer and cursebreaker both raised their wands and pointed them at Harry. A soft golden light enveloped him for a few seconds then faded. Their task complete, Griphook motioned for them to leave the office. They left. The desk dinged again.

Griphook simply took the portkey from his drawer, a simple pen, and handed to Harry.

"That portkey will take you directly to the villa in Italy and bring you back directly to my own office here at Gringotts. Do you still want the property warded with the Fidelius Charm, Harry?"

"Yes please. I need someplace quiet to think and I don't want to be disturbed. Will this bring me back on the day of Sirius' Will reading?"

"Of course. Is there anything else that I or Gringotts can help you with today Harry?"

Thinking things over, Harry shook his head negatively. Standing up, he reached over the desk and shook the goblin's hand, thanking him for his time and service. Griphook responded in kind saying that a representative of the local Gringotts branch would meet him at the villa a few minutes after he arrived.

With a further thank you, Harry pulled the hood of his cloak up to cover his features and left the bank. It was time to do some shopping and disappear for awhile.


	2. Chapter 2

Hospital Wing

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardary

Early Afternoon the day Harry Left

A groan escaped the prone figure lying on the hospital bed. With a slight shake of her bushy hair, Hermione slowly fought her way back to consciousness. With a second groan, her eyes fluttered open.

The first thing that she noticed was that the side that was hit by that spell hurt like hell. The second thing was that she was in the Hospital Wing of Hogwarts. The third thing was a slight tingling in her right hand. Turning her head to the right, she finally noticed the letter that Harry had left next to her head.

"I see that you are finally awake," a matronly voice said to her left. "That spell caused a lot of damage to your body, young lady. It has taken me several hours to fix you. You will still have to take several potions everyday for the next week and a half before you are fully healed. Please do not fight me on this."

Slowly rotating her head to the left away from the letter, she saw Madam Pomfrey standing next to her bed. With a wave of her wand, the healer ran a scan down Hermione's body.

"You are getting better, young lady. At least you're conscious now, which is a very good thing. I was about to send you to St Mungo's."

Looking at the healer, Hermione started to ask a question, but her voice came out all scratchy.

"Here, drink this," Madam Pomfrey suggested, holding cup with a straw in it. "It will sooth your throat and help with the healing.

Nodding slowly, Hermione took a sip from the straw. A soothing sensation spread down her throat to the rest of her body. Again, she tried to speak.

"Where Harry?"

Not surprised by this question, the healer matron answered that question and the other unspoken ones.

"Harry left your bedside earlier today. He held your hand for most of it. I was afraid that you were going to slip away from me, but somehow, you pulled through. He didn't say much as he held your hand, but he did whisper something in your ear before he left along with that note."

Hermione simply nodded. She vaguely recalled a voice saying something to her in the darkness followed by a powerful emotion. It had given her the strength to return. Before she could ask her next question, the Hogwarts healer continued.

"Due to the damage that Mr. Weasley suffered, I had to transfer him to St. Mungo's. His mind appears to be damaged along with some scaring on his arms. Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley along with Miss Weasley, Mr. Longbottom and Miss Lovegood had an argument yesterday morning. It appears that there has been some sort of falling out between them. I had to ask Mr. Potter to leave."

Hermione was saddened to hear that piece of information. With her mind slowly kicking in, she could see how the others would place the blame for their injuries squarely on Harry's shoulders even though he had begged them not to go with him to rescue Sirius. Now the others could see exactly what Harry was up against.

"I managed to heal the others fairly quickly. Miss Weasley's ankle and Mr. Longbottom's nose were fairly easy. They will not suffer any long term affects. Miss Lovegood just needed some Pepper Up Potion. She is now back to her usual self."

"Now, I need you to take each of these potions in the order that I give them to you. You will need to take one dose now and other before you go to sleep for the night. Each of these will speed up the healing process. So let's begin."

With that, the healer began to give Hermione several potions in a row. Each one tasted differently but after taking each one, one of her pains slowly diminished.

"There, that wasn't so bad now was it?"

Hermione simply shook her head in agreement with Poppy.

"Now you just relax here as best you can while I let the Headmaster know that you are awake."

Upon saying that, Madam Pomfrey bustled away to her office.

Sighing, Hermione lay there on her bed. With nothing else to do, her mind started going over the recent events. With her mind returning to its razor sharpness, she slowly reached several conclusions. Some of them she did not like.

With another sigh, the bed ridden bushy haired young lady reached up to take the letter that Harry had left for her. Grasping it, she brought in front of eyes so she could read it. The outside of the envelope simply had her name written on it in Harry's untidy scrawl. She realized that she did not have a good feeling about this letter.

Slowly opening the letter, she could feel that spells that Harry had placed on it to make sure that only she could hold and read the letter.

_Hmm, he is definitely getting better at magic_, she thought

Extracting the letter, she opened it and began to read it.

_My Dearest Hermione,_

_I am hoping that I can still call you that, but mostly likely after recent events, I will not be able to and for that I am eternally sorry. You have no idea how sorry I am that you were injured while trying to help me save Sirius._

_It seems that my "saving people thing" got the better of me again and it cost me Sirius and you nearly your life. When that spell hit you and you collapsed, I thought you had died and it was all my fault. It seemed that my world had just ended. The only that kept me from losing it was Longbottom saying that you still had a pulse. It was right then I realized how much you meant to me._

_Without you by my side during the course of these last five years, I would most likely have been killed by now, or worse, expelled. Sorry, couldn't resist._

_As you no doubt have either heard by now or have been told, Weasley and I, along with the others, had a major argument in the hospital wing yesterday. It would seem that Weasley's jealously has gotten the better of him again, and it is with a heavy heart that we have parted ways. The same with the others._

_As I write this, I don't know if I can still count you as a friend. If I can't, then there is really no reason for me to stay in the Wizarding World. For without friends, I have nothing left to fight for and really no reason to go on._

_Even though we may no longer be friends, I will be asking Dobby to look in on you from time to time to make sure that you are doing ok and if you need anything. I will also be asking him to take you and your family someplace safe if you are ever attacked by either Voldemort or his Death Eaters._

_Again, I am so sorry that I am the cause of you being hurt so badly, to my eternal shame. If you can ever find it in your heart to talk to me again, just ask for Dobby, he will know where I am._

_Harry_

With tears in her eyes and a breaking heart, she reread the letter. When she finished it the second time, Hermione finally broke down and started crying, letting the tears fall where they may. Her shoulders shook with the body wracking sobs that escaped from here.

This is the scene that the Headmaster and Madam Pomfrey saw as they entered the hospital wing from the healer's office. Sharing a glance, they slowly approached the crying young lady.

"Is everything alright," Madam Pomfrey asked tentatively. "Why are you crying so?"

She hated to see anyone in pain. It is one of the main reasons that she became a healer in the first place. Slowly, the aging matron eased herself onto the crying young lady's bed and gently took her in her arms. Hermione quickly wrapped her own arms around the healer and let the tears fall where they may.

Looking at the crying young woman, the fallen note and remembering what his healer had told about the falling out that had taken place the day before in that very room, the Hogwarts Headmaster had a pretty good idea why young Miss Granger was crying her eyes out. He decided to see if his hunch was right.

"Miss Granger," he asked in his best grandfatherly voice, "what seems to be troubling you so? I take it that there is something disturbing in that letter that Mr. Potter left for you. Do you mind if I have a look at it?"

Seeing Hermione shake her head in agreement, the aged educator picked up the letter that Harry had left. Feeling the concealing spells that Harry had put on it to make sure that Hermione was the only one who could read it, he quickly cancelled them and began to read.

Finishing the letter, Albus asked the castle if Harry was still in the castle or warded area surrounding the castle. Hogwarts told him that Harry had departed from the school a little while ago and was not on the grounds either.

_Hmm, this is disturbing,_ thought the headmaster. _Well there only two places that he could go. I will have to check both of them to make sure that Harry is safe. His safety is all that matters at this point._

Seeing that he would not be able to get anything else from the crying young woman, Albus departed the hospital wing and headed for his office. He needed to make some floo calls.

Back in the hospital wing, Poppy was slowly calming the distraught bushy haired young lady down. Finally, Hermione's sobs eased off.

"Here now, what's all this about," Poppy asked gently.

"It's Harry," sobbed Hermione. "He thinks that I blame him for what happened at the Ministry. Since everyone else seems to, he thinks that I do too. It's just not true!"

Shushing the young lady, Poppy gently started to rock her back and forth.

As she was doing that, the doors to the hospital wing burst open and in walked Ginny, Neville and Luna. They headed straight for their friend.

"What's wrong," Ginny asked.

Finally realizing that there were others in the room, Poppy turned to the others. Upon seeing who it was, the healer informed them that it was not a good time for them to be visiting Hermione.

"Is she going to be ok?"

"Eventually, Mr. Longbottom," Madam Pomfrey sighed. "Right now is not a good time for Miss Granger. She is still recovering from the events at the Ministry and will be for a while. I will let you know when you can see her."

Before she could inform them it was time to leave, Luna saw the discarded letter from Harry. Picking it up, she started to read it. By the end of it, she simply sighed and looked over at her two friends.

"What," asked Ginny.

"It would seem that Harry no longer considers us his friends after what happened yesterday. According to this, it looks like he will be leaving us for the foreseeable future. He is hoping that Hermione will still want to be his friend. If she doesn't, it says that he has nothing left to fight for and will not stay in our world."

At this, the other two shared a look then shrugged their shoulders.

"If he wants to take the coward's way out," Neville started off in a heated voice, "then we don't need him. I think that we will all be safer without him anyway. He it's like he is a trouble magnet."

Before anyone else could say anything, Hermione lashed out at her friends.

"Don't you people understand? Harry trusted you! You were his friends! Now that you have seen what Harry has had to put with for most of his life, you turn on him! You tell him that your injuries are his fault when that is not the truth! He begged you not to go with him! He knew it was probably a trap and that Voldemort would most likely be there, yet you still insisted on going along with him to the Ministry."

"I don't blame him for my injuries. I blame that Death Eater who cast that spell. And the next time that I see him, I'm going to kill him!"

Hermione was screaming by the end of her triad.

"I think it is time for you three to leave," Madam Pomfrey said in her no non sense voice. "You are upsetting my patient. I will let you know when you may visit her again."

Seeing that there was no way that they would be allowed to stay to visit with Hermione, the trio left the hospital wing and headed down to the Great Hall for dinner.

Emotionally drained, Hermione reluctantly released the comforting presence that was Madam Pomfrey. Laying back down, Hermione curled up on her uninjured side.

Looking down at the emotionally drain young woman, Poppy sighed.

"I will be back in a little while, when it's time to take more of your potions."

Patting her shoulder compassionately, the healer left the bedside and returned to her office.

Within minutes, Hermione was sound asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Sorry for the delay in putting this chapter out there. Had a case of writer's block and a plot bunny hit me hard for my other story, which I should have another chapter for in a few days.

**Gringotts Bank**

**Griphook's office**

**The Morning of Sirius's will reading**

The tiny goblin known as Griphook was sitting at his desk in his off ice waiting for his guest to arrive via portkey. Since that day the month before, the goblin had been very busy. A busy goblin is a happy goblin most of the time. Except what he had found out about the withdrawals from the Potter trust vault until just before Harry ended Dumbledore's access had not made him happy.

The account had been quietly drained several times over the course of the years. Since it was keyed into the main Potter vault, it had automatically refilled each time. The question was: how had Dumbledore done it? The answer: he had somehow gotten the vault key and a bottomless money bag. It was the only explanation the made sense, since the only transactions that Dumbledore had conducted in the bank itself was from his own account.

It appeared to be a very good thing that Harry had ended his access when he did, otherwise the vault would have been emptied again. The other question on Griphook's mind was where had all of that money had gone. Once he had alerted the bank manager what was going on, a full, but quiet investigation had been conducted. The result was that the money had not been redeposited back into the bank in either Dumbledore's or his known associates vaults. It would seem that money had just vanished.

This was a black mark on the bank, the goblins and the goblin nation itself. No one at the bank was happy. It was a good thing that Harry was showing up early, that way they would have time to discuss this and make some plans.

As Griphook sighed, a flash of light signaled the arrival of Harry by portkey. As usual, Harry landed on his behind and was embarrassed about it.

"Every single time," Harry groused. "I don't think I will ever get the hang of this."

"Just bend your knees when you land, Harry," Griphook said with a slight smile. "That way your legs absorb the shock of the landing and not your whole body. Glad to see you made it. We have much to discuss before the will reading. Come with me, the bank director wants to see you and explain the result of the investigation into your vaults himself."

As Harry stood up, he became suddenly wary.

"Um, not to be a stick in the mud, but why does the bank manager want to meet with me about Dumbledore taking a little bit of extra money from vault?"

"Because, Harry, it was just not a little bit extra, as you put it, taken from your vault. It was a lot more than that. Come, it does not do to keep the bank manager waiting."

With that, Griphook exited the office with Harry in tow. On the way to the head goblin's office, the tiny goblin explained how Harry was supposed to greet the bank manager. Harry paled slightly as he was told how to do it. The duo went through several security doors and checkpoints before arriving at the Ragnok's office door.

As they traveled through the bank corridors, Griphook glanced occasionally at the human walking next to him. Over the course of the last month, the young man had changed. He seemed more grownup and more in control of himself.

Although he didn't know it, Harry's thoughts reflected all that had happened since the end of term and what he had done while at the villa in Italy. A slow smile crept across his features as he realized that the only one who might recognize him right now would be Hermione.

Stationed on either side of the door were hobgoblins in full battle armor. The guards eyed Harry with distain until Griphook mentioned that the human had a standing appointment with bank manager. They relented slightly in their glare. Griphook knocked hard on the gilded door. A voice from inside ordered them to enter.

The office on the other side of the door spoke of wealth and power. It was about half the size of the Great Hall at Hogwarts. Gold and Chrystal chandeliers hung from the mural painted ceiling. Oak paneled the walls. There were several portraits of past bank managers lining the walls. They moved just like wizarding paintings.

A small sitting area was off to one side consisting of leather couches, overstuffed chairs and a coffee table. In front of the ancient oak desk that Ragnok was sitting behind were several comfortable chairs. Griphook led Harry over to the desk and simply waited for them to be acknowledged by the well dressed goblin sitting at the desk.

Harry quietly studied the bank manager. What he saw almost reminded him of Dumbledore, old but still exuding confidence and power. Intelligence projected itself from the coal black eyes. Several gold hoops dangled from the left ear of the bald goblin. And if he was correct, Ragnok was about as tall as him, but much more powerful.

After several moments where Ragnok kept reading the scrolls and parchments and making notations, he finally acknowledged the pair standing in front of his desk.

"Lord Potter," Ragnok greeted in a deep voice, "it is a pleasure to finally meet you, although I wish it could be under better circumstances. Has Griphook filled you in as to why I wanted to meet with you about what has happened to money contained in your Trust vault?"

Clearing his throat nervously, Harry started his greeting.

"Lord Ragnok, Bank Manager of Gringotts, it is a pleasure to be met by the esteemed leader of Gringotts and thank you for taking some of your valuable time to meet this humble wizard."

The next part was pure Harry.

"Um, if you don't mind, I would prefer if you just call me Harry. I really don't think that I have done anything great enough to be called 'Lord Potter', I am just Harry."

Griphook was gobsmacked that a human would offer his personal name to the leader of the goblin nation. But then again, this was a Potter. Ragnok just smiled in pleasure. He barked a laugh.

"Well done," he said with obvious pleasure in his voice. "It would seem that the reports about you are true, young Harry. It will be a pleasure doing business with you. Please, sit down so we can discuss what has happened with your account. And you may call me Ragnok, Harry."

Once everyone had taken their seats, Ragnok produced a rather thick file and laid it on the desk.

"Now before we begin, Harry, is this your true form?"

A slow smile crossed Harry's features, but it did not reach his eyes. With a shake of his head, he confirmed that it was not.

"For the sake of the will reading, I need to see your true form for I will be conducting it myself. From what I have read about your abilities, you can change yourself into almost anyone."

Accepting the explanation, Harry closed his eyes and concentrated. Over the course of the next few seconds, Harry changed in several ways. He grew in height from his normal short stature to about six foot tall. His shoulders broadened and his chest deepened. Muscle filled out on his arms and legs. A slight five o'clock shadow appeared on his face.

The two goblins wore shocked expressions. Ragnok was the first to recover.

"I see that you have spent your time well since you were last in this bank. Can you tell me how long it has been for you?"

"A little over three years for me," Harry said in a deep voice. Feeling he could trust these two, he launched into a short explanation. "The villa has a powerful device that allowed me to go back in time for the amount of time of my choosing, up to one year. I chose to take advantage of it. Please give my regards to your people in Italy. The tutors that they recommended were excellent."

"I see," Ragnok said in a slightly shocked voice. "Would you consider letting some of my most trusted people take a look at that device? Something like that could be very profitable to both of us."

"I will consider it," Harry said with a smile. "Now what has Dumbledore done that requires the attention of someone of your stature, War Leader Ragnok?"

"Ah, so you know who I really am," the goblin leader said with a smile in his voice.

"The Potter Libraries are quite extensive and hold a lot of information, especially about the various magical races, yours included."

Opening the thick file that he had produced, Ragnok started the meeting.

"Very well then, Harry. Let us get back to the issue at hand and that being Dumbledore stealing from you. As of yesterday, we have solid proof that he somehow acquired close to five million galleons of your money. Such an affront to the Bank and the Goblin Nation can not be allowed to stand. If this got out, there could very well be a run on the Bank and I will not allow that to happen."

The old goblin sighed then continued.

"One of our young tellers made a mistake just after your parents were killed, Harry. When Dumbledore came in a few days after you were placed with the Dursleys, he approached our newest teller at the time and presented himself as your Magical and Financial Guardian. He even presented documents to that affect."

"Since he is not a Potter by Blood, he couldn't access the main Potter vault nor the Gryffindor-Ravenclaw vaults, but he could access your trust vault and direct some of your financial affairs. From that teller, he acquired a bottomless money bag tied to your trust vault. The teller has been disciplined."

From what Harry knew of the Goblin culture, he didn't want to ask what that meant. He remembered the Lineage Chart that Griphook had showed him last month, so he was not surprised by the revelation of the Gryffindor-Ravenclaw vaults.

"It is good that you ended his access when you did. According to the investigation, Dumbledore would drain your trust vault at the end of first term and just after the end of school term. So basically, he drained it twice a year."

"Now, onto your other finances. He directed the complete purchase of Grunnings, where as before you only had forty percent of company. He also has directed some questionable actions concerning part of your portfolio. We have started corrective action on that. If everything goes well, we should have your portfolio back on track within the year. Do you have any questions so far, young Harry?"

"Just one for now. Exactly how much is the Potter Family worth now?"

"Well, minus the money taken by Dumbledore and the questionable actions in your portfolio, as of right now, your net worth is about five hundred million in liquid assets and approximately a little over one billion in your portfolio. That includes all property, stocks, bonds and companies both magical and Muggle. This is a combined summary to include the Gryffindor-Ravenclaw vaults."

"As a side note, you own Hogwarts as the last remaining Founder's Heir. You took Tom Riddle's title from him when you defeated him in 1981. Since you are a direct descendant of Godric Gryffindor and Rowena Ravenclaw, you now hold three of the titles. We are still searching for Hufflepuff's Heir. We have an idea who it is, but that does not bare directly on this meeting."

Just then Ragnok's desk pinged. Looking down at the top of it, he read what was there.

"Ah, they have arrived. Griphook please escort the Grangers to this office."

Griphook bowed, then left the office.

At the mention of the Grangers, Harry expression closed up. He wondered what Hermione would think of him, now that he was technically three years older. He knew from the reports and letters that Dobby had been giving him, that she did not hold him responsible for her grievous injuries at the Ministry. He knew that she still considered him her best friend and really wanted to see him to let him know in person that she did not hold any ill will towards him.

In response, he had asked her to come an hour early to Sirius' will reading so they could talk about a few things. Now he was beginning to wonder if that was a good idea. A question occurred to him.

"I have a question that I hope you can answer. When I was last here, Griphook mentioned that I had to get married within a year and then produce an heir after I reached my age of Majority. Since three years has, technically, passed for me, what happens now?"

The smile that crept across Ragnok's face sent shivers down his spine.

"Well now, that is a good question. One interpretation would say that you have passed your window of opportunity and should lose everything. A second type would say that you are still within your courting year since the reading of the will only took place last month. Here is how I see it, Lord Potter, you are still within your courting time frame since you are still legally underage and because the will did not state specifically how the time frame was to be counted, either by your current physical age or by chronicallogical time for the reading of the will. That little over site will let you get away with it, but please find someone soon."

Harry gave a relieved sigh.

"Continuing on, there will be a lot of people at this will reading, besides those listed as beneficiaries. Since you are the main beneficiary, you can control who attends and who doesn't. Just keep in mind that you can't remove someone you disagree with if they are a beneficiary."

"Can you tell me who are the beneficiaries are so I can be prepared for it?"

"Of course. The beneficiary list is as follows. You, Dumbledore, Nymphadora Tonks, Andromeda Tonks, the Weasleys, Remus Lupin, Luna Lovegood, and Hermione Granger are all beneficiaries. The Malfoys are invited to attend since they are Blood relatives and will not doubt challenge the validity of will on those grounds. Mr. Malfoy may even challenge you to a dual for the Head of House."

Harry just snorted at the thought. He was just about to respond to that when the door opened revealing Griphook and the Grangers. Harry's heart skipped several beats as his eyes fell on the vision of beauty that was Hermione Granger.

_It has been to long since I have seen her,_ thought the young emerald eyed man.

Granger Residence

The day before the Will Reading

"Miss Grangy, Miss Grangy. Dobby has message for you from Harry Potter sir. Please wake up."

The bushy haired young lady sleeping under the covers finally opened her chocolate brown eyes. Seeing Dobby was again in her bedroom was no surprise. Ever since that night that she had been woken up in the Hospital Wing with Dobby shaking here awake and asking her how she was doing, the hyperactive elf had been to see her almost every day since then. This morning was no different.

It had also turned into a rather secure way to send messages back and forth.

"Good morning, Dobby. How are you and Harry doing? Is Harry doing ok? Is he still depressed about Sirius getting killed? When can I see him?"

Dobby smiled at her. He really liked her and he knew that his master did too. Answering her questions one at a time, he gave her the answers to her questions.

"Dobby and Harry Potter Sir be doing ok. Dobby knows that Harry Potter Sir misses his Grangy and says that he wants to be seeing her soon. Harry Potter Sir says that he be doing better, but misses his dogfather."

"Dobby has message for his Miss Grangy. Harry Potter Sir would like his Miss Grangy to come to Gobliny Banky place one hour before Dogfather's will reading. Harry Potter Sir wishes to talk with Miss Grangy. Will Miss Grangy be coming?"

Hermione just had to smile. Talking with Dobby always made her feel a bit better. Then she realized exactly what Dobby had just said.

_YES! Harry wants to see me,_ she thought and a smile plastered itself across her face.

"Yes, Dobby, tell Harry that I will see him before the will reading. Also tell him that I miss him. Can you tell him that for me Dobby?"

"Dobby do, Miss Grangy. If yous be needing anything, yous be calling Dobby and Dobby do."

With that, Dobby left with a soft pop.

With a sigh, Hermione got up and started to plan how she was going to convince her parents to let her go to the will reading early and see Harry. They had made it quite clear that they really didn't her to be part of the Magical World anymore, especially since they had found out just how seriously she had been injured at the Ministry.

Quickly getting out of bed, she headed to the bathroom to prepare for the day. She hoped that her parents were not going to be difficult about going to Gringotts and meeting with Harry. Sighing, she undressed and stepped into the shower.

Once she was ready, both mentally and physically, the bushy haired young lady headed down to the kitchen and the battle that she was sure would ensue with her parents.

"Morning, mum," she called out as she reached the kitchen.

"Good morning, sweetie," her mum, Sarah Granger called out. Sarah looked just like her daughter except for the bushy hair and she was slightly taller than her teenage daughter. "So who was that I heard you talking to earlier?"

Knowing that now was the time to engage in battle that was going to happen, Hermione sighed. She watched as her mum started making breakfast for the three of them.

"Oh, that was Dobby, a house elf that helps Harry out. He stopped by this morning to let me know that Harry wants to see me tomorrow about an hour before Sirius' will reading. I haven't seen Harry since that night at the Ministry and I would really like to see him. I need to him to know that I don't blame him for what happened to me, mum."

Giving her daughter a thoughtful look, Sarah just had to ask.

"Hermione sweetie, jus t how much does this young man mean to you?"

"Mum, he is my best friend ever. He has saved my life a few times since starting at Hogwarts. I can honestly say that I love him, but I don't know how he feels about me, considering how he was raised."

Tilting her head to the side, Sarah gave Hermione a level look that said she had better explain.

"Now I don't know the whole story, mum, but from what we have talked about over the years, I think that his relatives have abused him badly. I know that he has mentioned about living in a cupboard a couple of times. He also let it slip that his cousin's favorite game while growing up was something called Harry Hunting."

"So what does this have to do with what happened at the Ministry and him wanting to see you?"

"Mum," Hermione said with a sigh, "you have to understand, Harry has never had any friends nor anyone who really loves or cares for him. The closest would be me, Ron Weasley, and his godfather. His godfather was killed at the Ministry and Harry blames himself. Just before the end of term, Ron and the others who went to the Ministry turned on Harry by blaming him for their injuries and telling him that they no longer want to be friends. I am the only one left who is still friends with him. He needs me, mum!"

"Sounds like to me that being associated with this boy is more dangerous than what it's worth. Honey, are you sure you want to go back to that school? Every year that you have been there, something has happened to you, either you have been badly injured or almost killed. And it seems to me and your father that this Harry Potter is at the center of it all."

Knowing her mum had just made some excellent points, Hermione just decided to lay it all out in the open.

"Your right, mum. Trouble just seems to follow Harry around. He does not go looking for it, it just finds him."

"Yes, first year was bad. That troll could have killed me, but Harry saved me from it. The reason that it happened was that Ron said some nasty things to me and I panicked. I spent rest of that day in that bathroom. When I was finally ready to leave it, the troll came in. Harry just rushed in and saved me. Ron was there too, but he didn't do much really."

"Second year was almost as bad. Someone opened a hidden chamber that held a basilisk. It petrified myself and several others. Harry was finally able to find the chamber and kill it. That saved me, Ginny and the others. But what you don't know is that most of the school, including some of the teachers turned on Harry and accused HIM of being the one who let the basilisk loose all because he has the ability to talk to snakes. Some of the students still haven't apologized to Harry for accusing him of doing that."

"Third and fourth year weren't really dangerous for me at all, just for Harry. Third year, his godfather escaped from prison when he was given a photo of the Weasleys vacationing in Egypt. Sirius saw in the photo the one who really betrayed Harry's parents and let them be killed. He escaped to prove his innocence. Fourth year was that stupid tournament that Harry was forced to compete in. I only helped him master spells that helped him make it through the tournament alive. Again, the whole school except for me and the Weasley twins turned on Harry. Even Ron did for awhile. At end of the tournament, Harry was forced to participate in a Dark ritual that let the terrorist who killed his parents come back. Harry also watched Cedric die."

"Last year was just a disaster from the get go. Two Dementors were sent after Harry by the people in the Ministry to shut him up about the return of the terrorist. Harry got into major trouble for driving off those nasty creatures and saving himself and his git of a cousin. During the course of the year, Harry was persecuted by the Ministry, tortured really, all in an effort to get him to come around to their way of thinking. It didn't work."

"Then last month during exams, Harry was sent a vision of Sirius, his godfather, being tortured at the Ministry. We tried to get the professors that we trusted to verify it, but no one listened to us. Harry figured it was a trap sent to him by V…V…Voldemort, the terrorist that killed Harry's parents, and he tried to stop us from going with him, but we eventually got him to agree to let us come with him. We went of our own free will, mum."

"I was injured after the trap was sprung and we were trying to get out. I don't blame Harry at all for what happened to me. I blame that Death Eater terrorist who cast the spell at me. The other thing that you have to understand, mum, is that even if you pull me out of Hogwarts, I am still going to be a target just because of who I am, a Muggleborn witch. These terrorists want to kill anyone that they deem shouldn't have magic. Voldemort wants to wipe out all non-magical people, Muggleborn, and Half-bloods like Harry."

"So the only way that we will ever be safe is to help Harry defeat Voldemort and his fellow terrorists. Even if we leave and go somewhere else, we still would not be safe because of Voldemort's ultimate plan for the whole world."

Hermione finally wound down as her mother placed a plate full of food in front of her. They both nearly jumped out of their skins when John Granger politely cleared his throat from the kitchen doorway.

"Daddy! You scared me," abomished Hermione. "Um, how much did you hear?"

John Granger was a tall man, a little over six foot in height with broad shoulders and trim waist. He kept himself in shape by going to a local gym to workout at. Being a former military man, he knew old habits die hard when you really enjoy them. He was also the most adamant about not letting his precious daughter return to the Magical world.

"Enough to know that you really like this young man," he said in a kind voice, "but, honey, do you really know what you are getting yourself into? I have seen war, and it is not pretty. It changes you and most of the time, not for the better. Is this young man really worth it?"

"Yes, dad, he really is. He wants to meet with me an hour before his godfather's will reading. You talk with him then and really get to understand him. You will like him, dad, I promise."

Seeing the determined look in his daughter's eyes, he simply nodded his head and sat down at the table with his wife and daughter.

"Ok, Hermione, if it means that much to you, we will go in early and meet this young man. If I don't like what I see, we will be pulling you out of that school and leaving this country for somewhere else. Understood?'

Hermione knew that tone of voice. It was his 'this will happen and there is nothing you can do about it' voice. She just hoped that Harry was up to the task of getting her father's approval.

The rest of the day was spent on family bonding time.

The next morning, everyone was up bright and early, preparing for the journey to Gringotts and the will reading. The trip took less time than it normally would considering how early it was.

Arriving at the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron, the Grangers quickly made their way through the place and into Diagon Alley. Very few people in the Alley yet, so the walk from the Cauldron to the Bank went smoothly.

John led his small family up the marble steps, through the gilded doors and into the bank proper. The three of them did nod to the guards at the doors. The guards nodded back. On the way back to the main teller station at the rear of the large room, they were intercepted by a tiny goblin who asked them to follow him. Hermione was not at all surprised by this and quickly fell into step with the goblin. Her parents fell in behind the two.

The foursome rapidly made their way through the maze of corridors to the room that Harry was currently meeting Ragnok in.

When the doors opened, the first thing her sharp eyes noticed was a tall raven haired man sitting and talking to a rather distinguished looking older goblin. She let out a gasp when the raven haired man turned and looked her. The only reason that she recognized the handsome man in rising from the chair as Harry was his emerald green eyes and that crooked smile that took her breath away.

NOTES: Sorry, couldn't resist the cliffy! Thanks to everyone who has reviewed this story so far. Keep them coming!


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Hi, welcome to part 2 of the will reading. Enjoy it.

Disclaimer: Hey I don't own HP or anything such like it.

* * *

**Ragnok's Office**

**Gringotts Bank**

**Morning of the Will Reading**

Harry gave Hermione a crooked smile as he stood up to his full height. He could see that she was shocked by how much he had changed over the course of the last three years of his life, but he knew for her, it had only been around a month since they had last seen each other. His eyes glowed with happiness at seeing her.

"Well, hello there, sunshine," Harry teased her. "I take it that you are happy to see me but are a bit confused as to what you are seeing. Well?'

Before he knew it, the emerald eyed teen was slammed into by a bushy haired missile and pulled into a bone crushing hug. Harry simply wrapped his arms around Hermione and breathed in her scent. She barely came up to his shoulders now.

_Ah, it is just like I remember_, he thought. _Cinnamon and flowers._

Hermione for her part couldn't believe what she was seeing. She knew that this was Harry by his emerald eyes, his unruly hair and the power he was unconsciously radiantly. Once she had him in her arms, she knew without a doubt that this person holding her was Harry just by the way that he was holding her. She sighed in contentment.

Whatever type of person that Sarah and John had been expecting, the tall well built confident young man who was currently holding onto their only daughter was definitely not it. From their daughter's descriptions of Harry, they had expected to meet a young man who was unsure of himself, a bit shy and about as tall as Hermione herself. Seeing this young man changed everything.

A gruff clearing of a throat brought the two teens back to reality. They both looked sheepishly at the others in the room. Ragnok was smiling slightly along with Griphook. Sarah had that motherly knowing smile, while John had a slight scowl going. The pair slowly released each other.

"Ah, sorry," Harry said blushing. "I suppose introductions are in order for everyone. Um, ok."

Harry paused to take a calming breath, then launched into the introductions.

"Lord Ragnok, Clan Chief of the Clan Chiefs of the Goblin Nation and the Bank Manager of Gringrotts Bank, may I present Hermione Jean Granger, daughter of Sarah Anne Granger, DDS and John Malcolm Granger, DDS."

He paused for a second then formally introduced Hermione to Ragnok.

"Hermione Jean Granger, Daughter of Sarah Ann Granger, DDS and John Malcolm Granger, DDS, may I present Lord Ragnok, Clan Chief of the Clan Chiefs of the Goblin Nation and the Bank Manager of Gringrotts Bank."

He then introduced Hermione to Griphook, whom he identified as his Senior Account Manager. Since Harry had never formally been introduced to the Grangers, Hermione took care of that. With the introductions done, the meeting resumed as extra chairs were conjured for the new arrivals.

Harry cast a look at Ragnok and the elder goblin nodded his head. Harry sent him a smile in return.

"Ok, Hermione, I know you have several questions for me, but they will have to wait for awhile, but here is a quick update for you and your parents, then I will tell you why I asked you to come here before the reading. Alright?"

Hermione just nodded her head in agreement.

"First off, I know that the Order has been out looking for me since I left the Dursleys. Don't worry though, I have been staying at a very safe place. It has been placed under the Fidelius Charm with me as the Secret Keeper. It is also heavily warded, trust me on that."

Harry looked directly into Hermione's eyes as he said the next part.

"Next, it has been almost three years since that night in the Department of Mysteries and Sirius' death. The place where I am now living has a device that lets me turn back time for up to a year at a time. Just like the Time Turner that you used in third year, Hermione. So physically, I am close to nineteen in age, but legally, I am still almost sixteen."

Harry held up his hand to forestall the questions that he saw in Hermione's eyes.

"I have been using that time to grieve for Sirius. I have also been in training. Lord Ragnok and Master Griphook were kind enough to recommend several tutors for me. I know that I could take my NEWTs right now and pass them with flying colors."

"I took these steps because I no longer trust Dumbledore, the Order or my former friends. I definitely don't trust the Ministry even if they have elected a new Minister. Too much has happened to me because of Dumbledore, the Order and the Ministry for me to believe in them."

"Now, I have something here that I want you to read. When you are done with, we will talk."

With that, Harry pulled a shrunken notebook from the pocket of his robes. Looking over at Ragnok, his look held a silent question. Again, Ragnok nodded his head yes. Harry took out his wand and enlarged the notebook and handed it to Hermione. He explained that in it was the highlights of his life, what he had learned about his family history, his encounters with various people while at Hogwarts and his conclusions about Dumbledore.

Hermione looked at him for moment, then began to read it. Sarah quickly scooted closer to her daughter and began to read it with her. She was very intrigued about this young man sitting front in the same room with them. John just simply stared at the green eyed young man and was evaluating what he had seen so far. He knew that his wife would fill him in on what was in the notebook.

"Um, Ragnok," Harry started in a quavering voice, "just how valuable is a dead basilisk worth?"

A predatory grin crossed the aged goblin's features.

"Well now Harry, that would depend upon the size of the basilisk in question and its age. Why do you ask or should I say why do you want to know?"

"Well," he suddenly became embarrassed causing his hair to change color slightly, "I kind of know where to find one. And according to the laws of the Ministry, I have first claim on it."

"I take it that you are talking about what happened at Hogwarts a few years ago, Harry. Are you saying that at the age of twelve, you defeated a basilisk?"

Harry simply nodded his head.

"Can you tell us how large it was and how old it might be?"

Harry tossed a look at Hermione. He had never really told anyone exactly what had happened down in the Chamber, not even Dumbledore knew as far as he knew. He saw that she was looking at him expectantly.

"Um, I think that it belonged directly to Slytherin himself, so that would make it about a thousand years old and it was somewhere between thirty and thirty five meters in length."

The goblins were looking at him with something a kin to respect. Hermione was looking at him in horror.

"It's ok, Hermione. I did have help you know. Fawkes showed up with the Sorting Hat and it gave me Gryffindor's sword. Fawkes also blinded it for me. I did get poisoned by it when I killed it but Fawkes cried into the bite and killed the poison."

Hermione stared at Harry for a few more moments then went back to reading the notebook. She would talk to him later about it.

John however was slightly impressed. He, like his daughter, had a love of learning. When he had found out that his daughter had been petrified, he had sought out the knowledge to see what kind of creature could cause it. He had found that there several creatures in myth that could do that, the basilisk being one of them. Harry admitting that he had killed one at the tender age of twelve put him in a new light.

The two goblins in the room knew exactly how hard it was to kill a basilisk, since the cursebreakers had run into several of them over the course of exploring ancient tombs. Helping Harry was proving to be very interesting.

"Well, Harry," Ragnok said with respect in his voice, "a basilisk of that size and age would be worth several million galleons. The hide could be made into protective garments and provide a better level of protection than dragon skin. The blood, organs, fangs and venom would also very useful. As you say, since you killed it, you have first claim on it. I would suggest that you see to it soon before it becomes unusable. Say within the next three years."

Harry simply nodded.

Hermione quickly finished reading the notebook and sat back in thought. She had reached some of the conclusions that Harry had reached, but not all of the ones that he did. Now that she had more information to work with, she could see why he had come to the conclusions he had based on what he now knew. She turned to look at Harry, her brow furrowed in thought.

"Let me get this straight, Harry, you think that because of a prophecy that was given to the Headmaster and then somehow Voldemort found out about it causing him to attack you and your parents and you surviving, is the reason the Headmaster has been controlling your life?"

"Yes, Hermione. He ignored my parents Will by putting me with the Dursleys even though he knew that I was not to be placed with them. He is after all a witness to the Will. He is also the one who cast the Fidelius Charm for my parents, so he knew that Sirius was not the Secret Keeper, yet he let him rot in Azkaban for twelve years."

"Dumbledore is the reason that I didn't know about my heritage or the magical world in general. To him, I am just a means to an end, a way to defeat Riddle once and for all. You heard what was said at Headquarters last year, that the Order was protecting a weapon to use against Tommy Boy. Well you're looking at the weapon. He has known this for all of my life, yet he has not seen fit to teach me what I need to know in order to survive. He doesn't seem to care if I live or die, just so long as Riddle is killed."

Harry paused to take a breath and to calm down a bit before he continued. Taking a deep breath, Harry looked directly into Hermione's eyes as he said he continued.

"Hermione, the reason that I asked you to come here before the others is that I have something that I want to tell you."

"While I was," he paused for a second to choose his next words carefully, "away for the last three years of my life, about a month for you, I came to realize something and that is you. You mean the world to me, Hermione. You have been there with me since the day I entered the magical world. You have always supported me whether I heeded your advice or not. The Firebolt incident comes to mind."

"What I am trying to say is that without you beside me, I would not be here or be the person that I am. I know this because there is something else that I have to tell you and you may not like it. Do you remember when Snape was trying to teach me Occlumency?"

The bush haired young woman remembered that fiasco vividly, so she nodded.

"Ok, it is simply more than clearing your mind. It is more about erecting barriers to stop people from looking into your mind. It is about knowing your thoughts. Knowing every single memory that you have. To master Occlumency, you have to basically inventory your memories so you know which ones are real and which ones are not and erect a way to defend them."

"One of the things that I trained on was Occlumency and I now know my every memory. Some of them were hidden from me. Not by a memory block per se, but hidden none the less. What Dumbledore did was put kind of a subtle Notice-Me-Not charm on some of my memories. The memories were still there and the charm was setup in such a way that it was powered by my own magic to make it look like I was the one who had blocked those particular memories."

"He also hadn't removed the child blocks on my magic. I discovered that he had somehow hidden those too. But I got those removed too."

Hermione wasn't called the smartest witch of the age for nothing. Her razor sharp mind quickly picked up on what he was hinting at. The others in the room were also not stupid and understood what he was saying.

"Are you suggesting," John said with rising anger, "that this Headmaster may have done this my daughter?"

"Yes, sir, it is very possible. I would say most likely, since most of the memories that were hidden involve Hermione. What I want to do is to check to see if he has done this to you also, Hermione. May I?"

"Will it hurt?"

"No, it shouldn't, but you will have to relive, so to speak, the memories, if there are any, that are hidden. Lord Ragnok, may I ask for the services of a Mind Healer? And may I have the use of your couch?"

The aged goblin gave his consent to use his couch while he sent for his best Mind Healer.

"How long will this take, Harry," asked Ragnok.

"I don't know, sir. For me, it took only about an hour to go through the memories once they were revealed. Could you postpone the Reading for an hour or so, so Hermione can attend?"

"Yes, it has been known to happen for a slight delay at some of more prestigious will readings, so this should come as no surprise. The next one is not scheduled until three this afternoon. I will take care of it, Harry."

Harry thanked the elder goblin, then led Hermione over to the couch and had her lay down on it. He looked into the lovely chocolate brown eyes and just had to smile. She smiled back.

Before he could begin to the spell to check for hidden memories, the goblin Mind Healer arrived. Harry quickly explained what he was going to do and the spell that was involved. The Healer said that it was similar to the spell that she used to look for hidden memories herself.

"No offense, Lord Potter, but I think it would be best if I did this. I have more experience in this area and might find something that you might miss."

Harry gave the Healer a relieved smile. He had hoped that the Healer would offer to do the spell. He nodded. Hermione told the Healer that she was ok with it also. Kneeling down next to the prone girl, both Harry and the Healer got ready to cast the spell.

John and Sarah let out a gasp when they heard Harry being referred to a Lord. Hermione didn't tell them, either that or she didn't know. Just who was this person who had wormed his way into their daughter's heart.

Griphook approached the Grangers as their daughter was undergoing the exam.

"I take it that you did not know that young Harry here was a Lord from your reaction. To be honest, Harry did not know his heritage nor his lineage until last month. It would seem that Dumbledore kept this information from him on purpose. For what reason we can't discern, but we do have some guesses."

"So you mean that it's true," Sarah asked in shock. "Harry is really a Lord, of Noble birth?"

"Most of the Ancient Families are," Griphook said nodding his head. "The Potters however are actually one of the few remaining hereditary Ducal lines. There is one other, the Longbottoms. The Blacks, whose line will now be combined with the Potters, are considered Barons, along with the Malfoys, who will also be at the Will Reading."

"So a Noble is interested in my daughter," John said with an amused voice. "This should prove to be interesting."

The glare that Sarah was sending his way didn't phase him one bit.

A scream of pure rage ended further discussion as Hermione vented her anger as she relived her hidden memories. Harry just held her as she went through them. The Mind Healer turned to look at Ragnok gave her report as she saw his expression.

"It would seem that Miss Granger did have several hidden memories. The earliest one was from around her twelfth birthday, my Lord. I found about eighteen hidden memories. The spell used was just as Lord Potter described. Not an Obliviate, more like a Notice-Me-Not that was powered by her own magic. I can't find any mental damage from the use of the spell, but I would recommend that she see another Mind Healer in a day or two just to make sure. By your leave, my Lord?"

"Of course, Healer. Remember, this falls under Bank Business."

"My Lord," the Healer nodded and left the room.

Meanwhile, Harry had pulled Hermione onto his lap and held onto her tightly as she both cried and raged at the same time. Having already gone through this with his own reclaimed memories, Harry just held her. He thought that he knew what most of her memories would contain, but he had to make sure.

"Mione," he said gently. "Do you remember what happened the next day after the Troll Incident?"

She nodded her head she buried her head in his neck.

"Can you tell me what you remember happening?"

"The next day, during our lunch hour, I pulled you into a classroom and thanked you for saving my life by giving you a hug and a kiss. Ron came in uninvited and asked where was his reward for helping to save me. I told him that he didn't deserve anything since it was because of him that I was almost killed. He argued back that it wasn't his fault and that I should be greatful that he saved me and that I now owed him a life debt for doing it too. You stood up for me saying that that wasn't right since he had caused the situation in the first place and couldn't claim a life debt for saving someone that you had put in danger. Just then, Professor Dumbledore came in and asked what was going on. Once we told him, he said that everything would be ok and pulled out his wand and did the spell on us. Is that what you remember happening, Harry?"

"Yes, Mione, it is. And after the Third Task?"

She shuddered as she remembered that horrid night.

"Ron kept bugging you about what had happened that night, you told him to piss off and that you would talk about it when you were ready. You did open up to me though and we did talk about some of that night. You also asked me if I would like to really be your girlfriend since everyone seemed to think that we already were together. I accepted happily and we shared our first kiss as a couple. Dumbledore arrived just as we broke apart, said he was sorry but he couldn't allow this to continue and did that spell again. We still had feelings for each other, but not as strong as they should have been. He also tried to direct me towards Ron and you to Ginny. I wonder what they know about this?"

"I don't know, Mione, I just don't know. Do you think that you can handle seeing them and Dumbledore?"

"I think so, but I would like my parents to be there, just in case."

Harry looked over at Ragnok, his question obvious to everyone. He took his time to consider his response.

"You are the primary beneficiary, so you get to decide who can attend, who can stay and who goes, with reason. Remember those who are listed as beneficiaries must be allowed to attend in order to claim their inheritance."

Harry nodded his thanks and invited the Grangers to sit in on the Will Reading. They readily accepted.

Harry gently pushed Hermione into a standing position. She reluctantly complied. Then everyone watched in amazement as Harry's form changed back into the one that everyone outside of the office thought to be his true form. Hermione, Sarah and John were awed by what they had just seen.

Not done surprising everyone, Harry reached into one of his robe pockets and pulled out a very life like mask of a middle aged man with graying hair. Before he could put it on, Hermione let out a loud gasp.

"You're a Metamorphmagus just like Tonks!"

"Yeah I am. It's one of the things that Dumbledore had a block on. Guess he didn't want me to use it. Please don't tell anyone about it. I want to keep it a secret for a bit longer. Um, Lord Ragnok, is there any way that you can prevent Dumbledore from using his Legilimency skills on us?"

Ragnok gave Harry a nasty grin.

"Of course, Lord Potter. Since it is a concern of yours, I shall put out that any magic used in the room will result in expulsion from the proceedings and forfeiture of any inheritance if it occurs. This does not cover Challenges though. I have to allow those."

Harry just nodded his head in agreement and slipped on the mask. It sealed itself to his face quickly. After a few test voices, he found one that fit the face. From his pocket he also pulled out a piece of parchment and handed it to Ragnok. He explained that it was a letter from him authorizing a representative to be present in his place, one Sam Johnson of Phoenix, AZ of the USA.

"Very clever, Harry. No one should expect this. I think its time for the Will Reading."

Upon saying that, Ragnok led the group out of his office and down to the room where the Reading would be held.

In a side room off of the main teller room, everyone who was invited to the reading was waiting for it to begin. The room also held those who were there just to see merger of two of the Wizarding World's Most Ancient and Noble Houses. It promised to be a fun filled event.

Then came the announcement of the slight delay due to a last minute change of venue. The people in the room where told that the estimate of attendees was more than expected, hence the delay as the regular Will Reading room was expanded to accept the amount of people who came to witness the event. Some refreshments were provided.

On one of the waiting room where all of the Pure Blooded houses and member of the Wizengamot. Most of them were politicking and renewing ties to each other. Members of the press corps where also slinking around the edges, trying to get a scoop or a juicy bit of gossip.

In an area reserved for those who were actually invited to share in the spoils, held an eclectic group of beneficiaries. On one side of the small area, off by themselves were Narcissa and Draco Malfoy, who were casting disdainful looks at the others in the reserved area.

On the other side of the small were the Weasleys, the Tonks, Remus Lupin and Luna Lovegood. Albus Dumbledore was off trying to talk up the new Minister of Magic, Amelia Bones.

"Where do you think Hermione is," Molly asked with a worried look.

"I don't know, mum," Ginny said disinterestedly.

Ever since that day in the Hospital Wing, the day after Harry had disappeared, Ginny and the others who went to the Ministry had tried to reason with her and talk her into abandoning Harry. She had simply laid into them again and told them in no uncertain terms that instead of betraying Harry, they should be helping him face Voldemort and his Death Eaters. They had simply refused to believe her and said it was either them or Harry. She had chosen Harry. They had left her and had not spoken to her since.

"Well, have you heard from Harry?"

"No, we haven't," Ron said in an uncaring tone. "Haven't seen him since the end of term and don't really care too right now."

"What is it with you two? You know what the Headmaster said about how important Harry is to fight You-Know-Who. You two should try and make up with him. We need him for now. Once he has defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, then you two can do whatever you want., but for now you two need to make up with him."

The two redheaded children just rolled their eyes at their mum and scoffed at the idea of making up with Harry or Hermione. As far as they were concerned Harry was not very important to the fight against the Dark Lord. Leaving their mum, the duo wandered over to Luna, who was just looking around serenely at everyone in the room.

The Weasley Twins were standing slightly apart from their family. They really hadn't approved of Ginny's and Ron's reaction to Harry after the Ministry. Besides they owed him for setting them up in business. They also believed that the family owed him at least two life debts, since they couldn't prove the third one, yet. They just hoped that Harry showed up so they could tell him that they supported him over their family.

The Tonks were talking quietly amongst themselves with Remus. Andromeda was hoping that once Harry was installed as the Lord Black that he would let her and Dora back into the Family. That was the main reason that she had come to the reading. She knew that Remus was there because it was Sirius' last wish the he be their. Plus looking at how her daughter and the werewolf were acting, she knew that there was something there. She just smiled and continued on talking with the pair of them.

Albus was in his element. Politicking with the other members of the Wizengamot and trying to convince the new Minister that Harry must be found and brought back under his control. In order to convince her, he had had to invite her to an Order meeting. That had been one of the most trying ones since Harry had disappeared.

At that meeting he had been forced to reveal the existence of the Prophecy and what it meant to the Wizarding World. Before had disclosed most of the contents but not all of it, he had demanded an oath from those present not to reveal it to anyone. Everyone had sworn not to say anything about it.

Ron and Neville had scoffed at the idea the Harry was the only one who was the only one who could finally end Voldemort's reign of terror. Ginny had believed that Harry would do his duty to them and fulfill the Prophecy. Luna had suddenly gone tense and zoned out for the rest of the meeting.

Amelia had said that she would put some Aurors on tracking Harry down, but she didn't hold out much hope of finding him since it had been two and a half weeks since he disappeared. She could only hope that he would eventually slip up and make his presence known somehow. The Grangers had been put under immediate surveillance since Hermione was the one he would most likely contact if he surfaced. So far that had been a dead end.

Albus knew that Harry would be at this Will Reading. If he had known where Harry was, he would have prevented it since he figured that Sirius would try and do something drastic, like emancipate him or make him Head of House Black. That would not be in either case for his plans for the Boy-Who-Lived.

Finally, a goblin entered the room and announced that the Will Reading for Sirius Black would commence and could those who there to attend it to follow him to the Reading Room. Everyone in the waiting room tried to be the first ones in line behind the goblin. Everyone knew though that only those listed as beneficiaries would be allowed to sit in the front row.

As everyone filed in, they noticed that there was a middle aged gentleman sitting calmly off to one side of the room facing the door. His clothes suggested that he belonged to someone who was strictly working class and should not be in attendance of such an august Reading.

They also noticed that Hermione was there along with her parents. They too were seated near the wall facing the door.

Harry Potter was no where in site. Draco immediately tried to take control of the Reading.

"What are you doing here, Granger? I thought that they didn't allow people such as you and your worthless parents into these kinds of things since you are not even worthy of licking my boots."

"Mr. Malfoy," a hard edged voice from behind the podium barked. "You will refrain from talking like that while you are within this Bank or you will be forcefully removed and lose your inheritance."

It was then that everyone noticed who was presiding over the Will Reading. It was none other than Ragnok himself, the Leader of the Goblin Nation. Draco pale face flushed at first from the rebuke then turned ghostly white as he recognized who had rebuked him.

"Let be known that as of now there will be no magic used inside this room except by myself, my assistant and the primary beneficiary or his designated representative. To do so would be met with your immediate expulsion from these proceedings, that includes all mind magics. If you are one of the listed beneficiaries, then you will lose your inheritance. Is that understood by all?"

It was then that everyone noticed the four large Security Hobgoblins placed strategically around the room. Even though the room had been expanded with tiered seating to accommodate everyone, those present felt slightly intimidated by the presence of the Hobgoblins.

As the listed beneficiaries took their seats, in the front row, Albus frowned at the declaration. He knew that the goblins had a way to make sure that he could not use his mind reading abilities, so he would not be able to influence anyone in the room. Especially the unknown man sitting off to the side. Minister Bones sat next to him.

"Excuse me, Lord Ragnok, but doesn't tradition dictate that the primary beneficiary be present at the Will Reading or lose his inheritance?"

Before Ragnok could answer, the middle aged man stood up from his seat.

"Um, perhaps I can answer that for you, sir. Oh, sorry to interrupt you, your lordship sir."

Ragnok just smiled at what Harry was doing. He risked a glance at the Grangers and saw that they had some mirth in their eyes but were hiding the fact that they know who it really was that was speaking very well.

"That is quite alright, Mr. Johnson. Perhaps you might be able to explain it better than I could as to why you are here."

"Thank you, sir," the man continued with a Southwestern US accent. "I met a remarkable young man last week by the name of Harry Potter. He seemed to have the weight of the world on his shoulders and none to happy about it either. He struck me as a very depressed individual, so I struck up a conversation with him."

"It turns out that he has some very good reasons to be the way that he is. We spent the better part of the day just getting to know one another. Of course, having a few drinks kinda helped out too. By the end of it, I guess he thought that he could trust me a bit, so he asked me if I would like to make some quick cash. Once he explained to me what he needed done, I happily accepted the offer. Kinda need the money."

"By the way, the name's Sam Johnson and as you can tell by my accent, I'm from the Good Ole US of A. Mr. Potter hired me for a nice chunk of change to be his representative at this little party. He said that all I had to do was give the head goblin, Lord Ragnok, a certified letter from him, which he provided. He also said that he had already cleared it with Lord Ragnok for this to happen since he really didn't want to return to England just yet. Like I said, he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. All I have to do is make sure that Harry gets what is coming to him and sign some paperwork in his name. Does that answer your question, sir?"

Albus was still frowning, but nodded his head in acceptance of the explanation. This wasn't the first time an impartial third party had been hired to represent someone at a will reading. It just hadn't happened or been allowed in years.

_Take that you manipulative arsehole_, Harry thought.

The Grangers where working overtime not to laugh out loud at what Harry had just done. So far they had been successful in maintaining the proper demeanor for a will reading, but it was getting close to their limit.

Hermione was smiling inwardly at the audacity of Harry. She could see that he had changed a lot in the last month, er, three years. She knew that that would take some getting used to, but she thought that she could do it.

John and Sarah were quite amused by Harry's actions.

Before Narcissa could stop him, Draco stood.

"I move, as the sole remaining male Black by Blood, that these proceedings be declared null and void since by the Blood Laws only a Blood related male may inherit the Head of House of the Black Family."

"You are out of order, Mr. Malfoy," Ragnok declared with a hard edge in his voice. "I know of the laws that you speak of, but they do not apply in this particular instance, due to two reasons. First, Walburga Black, Sirius Black's mother, attempted to expel him from the Family for not conforming to Family Traditions. She couldn't since he was the last remaining male Heir of the Primary Bloodline. Second, since his legal status in still in question, he falls outside of the normal guidelines of inheritance. Hence he can choose whomever he wants as his Heir. So your claim is invalidated. Sit down, young Malfoy."

Malfoy's face blotched with anger at the way that the goblin had spoken to him and used his knowledge of Wizarding laws to scuttle his first try at the Family Name and fortune so thoroughly. Narcissa was quietly whispering in is ear to keep quiet, his chance would come.

"Now are there anymore objections before we begin?"

When no one raised any objections, Ragnok placed a projection pensive on the table next to him. Touching a series of runes in sequence, the elder goblin activated the pensive. A life size translucent figure of Sirius Black materialized just above the device. The figure seemed to take a look around the room, then smirked.

"Greetings from the great beyond," the ghostly figure of Sirius said. "Well since everyone came to see a show, let's get this started."

Sirius raised a hand to mouth and cleared his throat.

"I, Sirius Orion Black, being of sound mind-"

Remus couldn't help himself and scoffed at that remark.

"I heard that, Remus. Now please, this is after all a serious matter. I, Sirius Orion Black, being of sound mind and body do hereby proclaim this to be my one and ONLY Last Will and Testament."

"Good, now that that is out of the way, now for the fun stuff."

The ghostly image scanned the crowd again.

"To my cousin Andromeda Black Tonks and her husband Ted Tonks, I leave the Manor in Dover to you along with the sum of 10,000,000 galleons. Enjoy yourselves and if you need to, get out while the getting is good."

Next, my old friend, Remus Lupin. To you I leave the sum of 15,000,000 galleons. And no, you can't give it back. Do me two things, my friend. First, buy yourself some new clothes, you need them. Second, look after Harry for me. He will need someone to guide and help him when he needs it."

_Thank you, Padfoot_, Remus thought with a stony face, _but I don't think that I will be able to the second part of your request. HE is the reason you died, my brother. I'm sorry_.

Sirius' eye took on a slight manic gleam as he made his next bequest.

"Now for my favorite niece. Hullo Nymphadora. Yeah, I know you hate your first name, too bad you can't hex me anymore for saying it. To you I leave the sum of 10,000,000 galleons and that nice little place in the south of France on the Med. You know the one I mean. You loved as a little girl. Make good use of it. Oh yeah, make sure that Remus buys some new clothes too. Happy hunting, hope you bag your wolf."

The ghostly images eyes then turned hard.

"Narcissa Black Malfoy, I know that you wouldn't turn down an opportunity like this, so here is what you get. A onetime offer and onetime only and that is this. IF you seek out the Head of the Family and agree to let him dissolve your Marriage Contract with the Malfoys, then I will give you the returned dowry to set yourself up as you see fit. I suggest you take, otherwise you get nothing."

Draco Malfoy, I leave you two knuts and some advise. I know that you are willing to take the Dark Mark because you think that you are better than everyone because of your Blood status. Don't do it, that is the short road to the grave. If you don't believe me, ask my brother Regulus. Oh that's right you can't, he died within weeks of becoming a Death Eater. War is coming and it is real. People will die. It isn't a game, kid. I hope, for your sake, that you choose the right side."

"Now for you, Albus I-have-to-many-names Dumbledore. You have screwed up so badly where it comes to us. Us being myself, James, Lily, Remus and especially Harry. How you think that only you know what is for the best for everyone is what got into this mess in the first place. To you I leave one knut and some advice. Don't be a fool anymore with Harry, because he might just surprise you by doing the unexpected. I would have left you something, if I hadn't found out a few things that you have done involving myself, Harry and a certain bag. Hope you finally see the light and change how you deal with Harry, but I doubt it."

A genuine smile crossed his features as he commented on his next bequests.

"To Arthur and Molly Weasley, I want to thank you for helping out with Harry when I couldn't. I know that you guys are always scraping by, so I'm leaving you the sum 5,000,000 galleons. That ought to help you guys out for a while."

"To Ron and Ginny Weasley, you have my thanks for being friends with Harry. I give you each 1,000,000 galleons. It will be setup in trust for you until you come of age, then you will have full access to it. Don't spend it all at once."

Both of the youngest Weasley children sat in stony silence, their faces betraying no emotion.

"To Bill and Charley Weasley, I leave each of you 1,000,000 galleons and some copies of some books from the Family Library. For Charley, a couple of rare books about Dragons. For Bill, a couple of books about some really ancient curses and how to break them. Enjoy them."

"Now for those pranking geniuses, Fred and George Weasley. I leave you a copy of the Marauders Notes, you did me proud. Keep up the good work, this old world will some laughter in the future. I will also be adding 2,500,000 galleons to your business vault as an investment. Use it well. Also, talk with Remus, he was the planner of our group."

The twins had stars in their eyes as the realized just what they had been given. Turning to Remus, they each had a manic gleam as they realized exactly who he was. Before they could say anything, Sirius continued.

"Hermione Jean Granger, what can I say to you, but thank you and I love you like you were my own daughter. Thank you for sticking by Harry through everything that has happened to him. He will need your help and support to face what's coming. To you, I leave 10,000,000 Galleons and I would give you full access to the Black Family Library, but you are going to have to see Harry about that. I'm sure he'll let you, if you ask him in the right way."

Hermione blushed at the comment Sirius had just made. She knew from the conversation earlier and with the recovery of her memories, that Harry really cared for her. Because of his up brining, he just didn't know how to say those three words that meant the world to most people. She silently vowed to teach him how to say them.

"To Luna Lovegood. You are a surprise, you know that. I am leaving you 1,000,000 galleons because of how you helped Harry during the last school year by printing that article in your father's magazine. I hope that you use the money to continue to print the truth about what is going on the Wizarding World. Thank you from the bottom of my heart."

A serene smile crossed Luna's features at the mention of what she had done for Harry during the last school year. She was beginning to wonder if maybe breaking with him was suck a good idea.

"Now here is a surprise for everyone. I figure that since I am still considered a fugitive that Director Bones is present. Well if she is, I leave her certified copies of my memories of what happened from the time we decided that James, Lily and Harry needed to go into hiding, the casting of the Fidelius Charm, what happened when I arrived at the Potter's hiding place and the happenings when I confronted Peter Pettigrew. I also am donating 5,000,000 galleons to the DMLE so they can upgrade their equipment and prepare for the coming war. Bet you didn't see that coming, did ya Amelia?"

After that, Sirius' face became the most serious that anyone had ever seen it before.

"Finally, to Harry James Potter, the Lord Potter and my Godson, I leave the title of Lord Black, the Head of House Black and all that it entails. I also leave the entire Family Black Fortune to Harry James Potter. This includes all monies, stocks, companies and bonds, plus all of the Family Heirlooms and treasures that have been placed in the Family Vaults over the years. This does not include the monies and property that I have already given out as bequeaths during the course of this will."

"Also, Harry, I have arranged for you to become emancipated. Once you sign your inheritance forms and become the Head of the House of Black, you will also gain your emancipation. After all, can't have a Lord of both House Potter and House Black beholden to anyone. Use your new freedom as you see fit, Harry."

"I do have two requests though, Harry. First no matter what happens, be your own man to do what you feel you need to do in order to survive this war. The other thing is to make the Black Family means something again. Use its fortunes for the good of others and to help fight those who would prey on others."

Harry was trying very hard not to show any emotions at all since he was supposed to a disinterested third party. His eyes were shiny though.

With that, the ghostly Sirius seemed to shudder, then a smile cracked his face.

"Well, that is the most serious that I have ever been. Well that's it everyone. Hope you enjoyed your time here. Oh yeah, I love you Harry. Keep that smart little witch with you, she can really help you. Good bye, Remus. Take care of the pup. You too, Nymphie"

"Bye."

With that, the ghostly image of Sirius Black faded from view. All was quiet in the room for several moments, before Draco stood up at Narcissa urging.

"I, Draco Lucian Malfoy, as a male Blood related member of the House of Black, do hereby challenge Harry James Potter to a duel for the control of the House of Black, the position of Head of House and the Black Family Fortune!"

Everyone turned to look at Draco. He seemed confident that he would prevail since Harry Potter was not in attendance and his representative could not accept the duel in his place. It seemed a foregone conclusion that Harry would lose out on his inheritance.

"Are you sure you want to do that," the calm voice of 'Sam Johnson' cut across the silence of the room.

Draco just gave him a triumphant smirk. Without Potter there to take up the challenge personally, he would be declared the winner by default and he could bring his future master what he had promised. Feeling magnanimous, Draco decided to answer the question.

"Of course I do. Even if Potter was here, there is no way that he could defeat me. He is a miserable excuse for a wizard as it is. The next time that you see your master, tell him that he lost his only chance because he was to scared to duel me in front of those that matter."

Harry looked over at Ragnok.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Johnson, but if Lord Potter does not make an appearance within the next five minutes then Mr. Malfoy will win the challenge by default."

Harry nodded. He had kind of expected something like this to happen, but he had hoped that it wouldn't. He didn't even look over at Hermione because he knew that she would be back him no matter what he decided to do. Looking over at Dumbledore, he could see the calculating look on the man's features.

Albus was of two minds on this turn of events. On one hand, if Harry did show up and defeat Malfoy, Voldemort would be denied a valuable seat in the Wizengamot and huge fortune for him to fight his war with. But would then gain some independence by becoming emancipated. Albus was confident that he could still bend the young man to his will.

On the other hand, the Light side would lose a vast source of funding to Voldemort and an another seat in the Wizengamot, but Harry would still be under his control. Either way it went, there would be some loss and some gain.

To almost everyone's surprise, the man that they thought was just a hired representative stood up and faced the Malfoy Heir. His stance was that of someone who was very relaxed.

"Are you absolutely you want to do this," he said in a quiet voice.

"Didn't you understand what I said, you moron. Can't you understand proper English? Even if Potter where here, there was no way that he could defeat me. I have constantly beaten him at everything. After all, I am a PureBlood where as he is only a Half Blood."

"Very well then, Draco," the cold voice now emanating from the body of 'Mr. Johnson.' It sound just the voice of Harry Potter.

Reaching up with his left hand, Harry removed the mask and tossed it aside. Everyone could see that his emerald eyes were burning with an inner fire. Several hearts skipped several beats. Malfoy's pale face became even paler.

"I, Harry James Potter, the Head of House Black, do hereby accept the challenge for a duel from Draco Lucian Malfoy."

"Harry," Dumbledore shouted, "as your Magical Guardian, I forbid you from participating in this."

Harry's response drew gasps from the assembled crowd, even though he never took his eyes off of Malfoy.

"Shut up, old man. This matter no longer concerns you. It has now become a matter of Family Honor. You will keep quiet and do not interfere or you will suffer the consequences."

Everyone in the room could hear the cold rage and contempt in the emerald eyed young man and it shocked everyone into silence. It had been a very long time since someone had talked to Dumbledore like that. The only ones not shocked by the tone of Harry's voice where the Grangers, Ragnok and Griphook.

The space slowly cleared between them. With a wave of his hand, Ragnok erected dueling ward to absorb any stray energies. The two combatants stared at one another. Harry calm and collected, no drawn wand. Malfoy on the other hand tried to appear calm but some could see just now nervous he was even with his wand already drawn and pointed in the general direction of Harry.

"Your move, Ferret."

That got the results that Harry wanted. In the blink of an eye, Malfoy screamed out a banishing hex, followed up by a paralyzing curse. In this type of duel any and all spells were allowed, except for the three Unforgivable and they were just frowned upon. If you knew it, you could cast it.

Harry simply stepped out of the spells way, smiling slightly.

"I see that you have improved. Care to try again?"

With rage filling him, Malfoy snapped off several semi Dark curses at Harry in rapid succession. The least dangerous was a bone shatterer. The most dangerous was an acid based spell that would have slowly eaten him alive within ten minutes if he didn't get medical attention right away. Most of the crowd gasped as they recognized the Darker spells.

With a casual flick of his hand, Harry erected a pure white shield that stopped all of spells and absorbed them. The shield disappeared as quickly as it came. Harry smirk at Malfoy.

"Come on, Ferret, you can do better than that. How do you expect to become one of Tom's Death Eaters if you can't even hit me?"

Rage taking over, Malfoy started casting his most powerful and Darkest spells ending with a blasting hex that was almost black in color. Harry dropped to the ground and crabbed sideways. Finally pulling his wand, Harry launched a convoluted spell chain of hexes, curses and jinxes that at the most in the Grey Realm of Magic. Malfoy just managed to erect a shield that blocked most of them and had to dodge the rest.

"Now it's getting interesting," Harry said calmly.

Hermione however was far from calm. Harry was in there fighting for his life and he was perfectly calm about it to the point of taunting Malfoy.

Molly was beside herself with worry at the spells flying back and forth. Anyone of those could be lethal if they hit in the right spot. Ron and Ginny looked like they could care less if Harry survived the fight. Dumbledore had a contemplative look as he studied the spells that were flying. Everyone else's expressions varied from anxious to fear to disbelief as they watched the contest.

Finally, Malfoy had had enough and he snapped off the Killing Curse. He no longer cared, just so long as he walked out of this alive. He realistically couldn't be sent to Azkaban for casting that spell since this was Head of House duel. Here the Old Laws applied.

Seeing the emerald green spell come flying at him, Harry dove to the side. As he dove, he jerked a pistol from inside his robes. This is what he had been waiting for. Now he was free to use and all means to win. The gun bucked in his hand as it came on target. The report and flame was seen and heard by everyone in the room.

Malfoy screamed as the bullet tore through his right shoulder, spinning him around and knocking him to the floor. The only reason that his wand didn't fly very far was because he had a string tied to it. It landed about three from him.

Harry slowly approached Malfoy with the pistol leading the way.

"Do you yield, Draco Lucian Malfoy?"

Clutching his shoulder in hopes of stopping the flow of blood, Malfoy hissed in pain. A weak smile crossed his pained features.

"You lose, Potter and I win because you cheated. I will have your Family soon because of it."

Harry gave Malfoy a patronizing smile.

"I don't think so, Draco. You see, the Old Laws come into play here. By you casting the Killing Curse, that freed me to use any and all means at my disposal to win. When those Laws came into being, Wizards and Witches actually used real shields and swords and spells were mainly used as a backup. Oh, yeah, _Diffindo! Expelliarmus!"_

With those two spells, Harry ended the duel and the dueling wards dissolved.

"Lord Ragnok, might I enquire about a Healer for this young man?

"Of course, Lord Potter. One will be here momentarily. Ladies and Gentlemen, this concludes the Reading for Sirius Black. Please exit the room and continue on with your day."

Turning to Harry, he slowly approached the young human slowly. Everyone but Dumbledore, Amelia, the Weasleys, and Luna had started to file out. Remus just stood off to oneside. Narcissa was waiting to see what Harry would do with her son. Hermione, Sarah and John had moved to stand next to Harry once the ward dropped. Harry was still looking thoughtfully at Malfoy.

"Well now, what am I to do with you? Since, according to those same rules that you seem to hold so dear, say that I have to do something to punish you. Oh, don't I have something to sign, Ragnok?"

Ragnok just smiled as he handed Harry three pieces of parchment to sign. The elderly goblin also passed out the needed parchment for the other beneficiaries to claim their inheritance. Before Harry could sign his, Dumbledore tried to stop him.

"Harry, I forbid you from signing that as your Magical Guardian. You will not sign that. I will tell you when you can sign that. It is for the best."

"Oh, really, old man," Harry's voice deadly cold, "Just like the child blocks that you failed to remove when I entered school. Or the siphon that you placed on me to power those so-called Blood Wards at the Dursleys. How about those spells you placed on me to keep track of me and my health? Were those for the best also, old man? I won't even get into that nice little mind spell you used on myself and others."

"Harry!" screeched Molly, "Don't talk to the Headmaster that way. I'm sure he has his reasons for what he did."

Harry didn't even bother to respond to her, but kept his eyes on Malfoy as the newly arrived Healer went to work on his shoulder wound. Ignoring Dumbledore's order, he quickly scanned the documents, then signed them by placing his wand tip where he was supposed to sign and his signature appeared. A golden hue appeared around him as he signed the last one. It left as quickly as it had come. Harry grinned.

Dumbledore let out a heavy sigh. This just complicated his plans immeasurably. Amelia just looked at Harry in deep thought.

"Andromeda Black Tonks, Nymphadora Tonks, I, Harry James Potter, the Lord Black, do hereby reinstate you to the Black Family with all of the rights and privileges pertaining there too. So mote it be.

A soft blue glow surrounded both ladies then streaked to Harry and surrounded him. It was over quickly.

"Welcome to the Family," Harry said smiling. "Now I see that you two have some questions for me, but those will have to wait for another time. May I get in touch with you later to set up a time for a meeting?"

"Of course, my Lord," Andromeda said in stunned voice. "Come, Dora, we need to see to the parchment work and have some shopping to do."

Saying that, she grabbed both Ted's and her daughter's hands and drug them from the room, both of them to stunned by the events to stop her. Remus followed along behind them, a thoughtful look on his features.

Minister Bones took this opening to thank Harry for his Godfather's kind donation and assured him that it would be used for what he intended it for. She also promised to reopen the investigation into Sirius' imprisonment using the memories as a basis for it. Harry politely thanked her, and she left saying that she had a lot do now that she was Minister.

"Draco," Harry hissed, "if you make one more move towards your second wand, I will take your arm off."

That got everyone's attention. Malfoy was now sitting up and his left hand had been slowly creeping down his pants leg to get his backup wand. He froze immediately, knowing he had been caught.

The Weasley Twins took the opportunity to profusely shake Harry's hand and rib him about now being a Lord and the head of two Ancient Families. Harry gave as good as he got. The Twins promised to get in touch with him in the near future about using their new found wealth for pranking opportunities. Turning around, they quickly grabbed Molly and drug her from the room before she could say anything to Harry.

Ron and Ginny had simply stood by and not said a word to Harry. For his part, Harry hadn't even looked in their direction. They followed their brothers out of room. Arthur simply nodded his head to Harry, who nodded back and followed his family out.

All three of the Grangers were looking at Harry with different expressions. John was remembering what he had seen during the duel and now very impressed with Harry, but was beginning to wonder if being near him was the best thing.

Sarah was looking at the handsome young man that had captured her daughter's heart in a new light. From what she had been told this morning, she was looking at a Duke of some sort and he was interested in Hermione. She could also tell that the feelings were mutual. And from watching the duel, she knew that he would do whatever it took to protect those he cared about.

Hermione for her part, had had her heart in her eyes as she watched the duel unfold. Unlike her parents, she knew what most of those spells would have done to Harry if they had connected. He had surprised her by the finesse he had used and depth of his knowledge. Then she remembered that he was technically three years older and had spent most of that time training himself. And he had basically admitted that he cared for her. She smiled.

Luna approached Harry slowly. She knew that she had hurt him badly by her words last month and he had been nothing but kind to her. Taking a deep breath, she presented herself to Harry.

"Lord Potter Black, may I ask a favor," she said in an unusually straight tone for her.

"What is it, Lovegood," Harry said in frosty tone.

The tone didn't stop Luna from forging ahead.

"I would like to make an appointment with you so we can best decide how to use the investment that your Godfather left for the Quibbler. I would also like to offer my apologies for what I said in the Hospital Wing."

Harry cocked his head to one side as he looked at Luna.

"Fine. I will send you an owl when the best time for us to meet will be."

Luna nodded serenely and left the room. She needed to talk with her Daddy about this.

"Now that just leaves you to deal with, Draco. How am I do deal with you? Like I said earlier, the Old Laws say that I must punish you in some way for challenging me and losing. By the way, you know you made several mistakes when you issued that challenge."

"First off, you issued a challenge when you thought that you could win by forfeit. Not exactly the best way to go about it, but then again, it's what I've come to expect from you."

"Secondly, you challenged someone who has a dueled your Dark Lord on at least five separate occasions and either defeated him or lived to fight another day."

"Thirdly, you severely underestimated me just because you thought that since you are a PureBlood that that automatically gives you more power and knowledge of magic. It doesn't. Just look at the last few hundred years of test scores in both OWLs and NEWTs and you will see that those you claim to be PureBloods are doing worse every year."

"Fourthly, when you issued that challenged you didn't specify what type of duel it was supposed to be, so the Old Laws came into effect. Under those Laws, you can use any and all means to win a duel for the Head of House. When you used the Killing Curse, that let me use my pistol. Remember, any and all means, Draco."

"Finally, you issued a challenge to your Head of House and lost, so now I have to punish you. I have several ways of doing that, from just ejecting you from the Family to ought right demanding your life."

"Harry, as the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, I forbid you from punishing Mr. Malfoy in any way."

"Sorry, Dumbledore," Harry said in a tone that clearly said he was not, "but even in that capacity you don't have any jurisdiction here. This is still a family matter. As a matter of fact, why are you still here? The Reading is done and you were told to leave."

"Harry, I am still here because I do not recognize your emancipation. It was illegally done, so there for, you will come with me right now. We have much to discuss and to prepare for. Your little rebellion is over."

Harry just shook his head at Dumbledore and his interfering.

"Dumbledore, you saw with your own eyes that the magic of House Black accepted me as its master. You also know that when one assumes the role of Head of House, one is automatically emancipated. That is why you never told me about being the Head of House Potter when I turned eleven. It would have completely ruined your plans for me."

"You do what you feel you need to do, Dumbledore, but I warn you, I know more than just that. I have been very busy since the end of term. Learning how to survive against Tom was just one of the many things that I studied. Family history comes to mind. Now please leave before I ask Ragnok for an escort for you. Your choice, old man."

His sky blue eyes burning with rage and promising retribution, Albus turned on his heel and strode from the room. He knew that everything that Harry had just said was completely true. Once the magic of the House of Black had accepted him as the Head of House, he had been automatically emancipated and had therefore also become the Head of House Potter. Albus still had a few more tricks up his sleeve in order to regain control of Harry. It was time to play one of those.

"Now back to you, Draco," Harry said he turned back to where Malfoy was still sitting on the floor. The Healer was just finishing her work by making Malfoy take a Blood Replenishing Potion.

"What shall I do with you? I don't want or need you as my personal slave. I don't want your life or your magic. So that just leaves this: I, Harry James Potter, the Lord Black, do hereby dissolve the Marriage Contract between the House of Black and the Vassal House of Malfoy. I also request the retrieval of the dowry and any and all profits made from said dowry. So mote it be."

A blinding flash of light surrounded Narcissa as soon as Harry finished speaking. It lasted but a moment, but had a lasting impact on future events. The shocked expression on Narcissa face was priceless as far as Harry was concerned. But Harry wasn't done yet.

"I, Harry James Potter, the Lord Black, do hereby cast Draco Lucian Malfoy from the House of Black for the attempted assassination of his Head of House. So mote it be."

A grey light surrounded Draco for a split second then moved to Harry. When it was gone, Draco was no longer a member of any Wizarding House. He was now just person who could use magic and then only at his peril.

Harry turned and looked at the stunned Narcissa.

"Ms. Black," he said in a kind tone, "I know what it's like to grow up without parents or someone who loves you. Would you be willing to adopt this young man seated on the floor before us? I can see that he is in need of someone to care for him and to finish raising him properly. Would you be willing to do this?"

Everyone left in the room was stunned but the turn of events.

"Why would you do this," Narcissa said in a shaky voice. "He has done nothing but torture you and try and get you into trouble since your first year?"

"It's simple and complicated at the same time. I will explain it at another time, Ms. Black. Do you accept the offer?"

After studying Harry for several moments, Narcissa said that she would do it. It would give her a chance to hopefully correct most of the things that her ex-husband had done in regards to Draco. The adoption ritual was done quickly and Draco was now known as Draco Black.

"A word of warning, Draco, you will never be the Head of House, I will make sure of that. If you behave yourself and do what your mother tells you to do, then you will have no problems from me. Break the rules that I will tell you about later and you will regret ever being born. Am I understood?"

Everyone could see that Draco was loathing the idea that he now had to be subservient to his hated enemy, but on the bright side, he was now a Black instead of a Malfoy. Since Potter had reclaimed the dowry and everything that had derived from it, Draco knew that the Malfoy line was now almost bankrupt and of no use to the Dark Lord. Besides, Draco wasn't a Slytherin for nothing.

"I understand, milord Black."

Harry just nodded and turned to Ragnok who had been waiting patiently for Harry's attention.

"One final thing, Harry," Ragnok said with a grin on his wrinkled face, "there are two outstanding Marriage Contracts for the Head of the House of Black. Congratulations, Harry."

* * *

AN: So what do you think? Let me know what you think.


	5. Chapter 5

AN: Sorry for the long delay in posting, but I was vacation for a bit, moved into a new home, got some bad news from some doctors and then had to return to work. I had most of this written before I went on vacation, but I have just started back to writing again. Depression sucks.

Please enjoy this chapter and I will try to be quicker with the new chapters.

* * *

**Will Reading Room**

**Gringotts Bank**

**Just after the adoption of Draco**

"_A word of warning, Draco, you will never be the Head of House, I will make sure of that. If you behave yourself and do what your mother tells you to do, then you will have no problems from me. Break the rules that I will tell you about later and you will regret ever being born. Am I understood?"_

_Everyone could see that Draco was loathing the idea that he now had to be subservient to his hated enemy, but on the bright side, he was now a Black instead of a Malfoy. Since Potter had reclaimed the dowry and everything that had derived from it, Draco knew that the Malfoy line was now almost bankrupt and of no use to the Dark Lord. Besides, Draco wasn't a Slytherin for nothing._

"_I understand, milord Black."_

_Harry just nodded and turned to Ragnok who had been waiting patiently for Harry's attention. _

"_One final thing, Harry," Ragnok said with a grin on his wrinkled face, "there are two outstanding Marriage Contracts for the Head of the House of Black. Congratulations, Harry." _

"WHAT!?"

That shouted word could be heard throughout most of the bank. The power behind it caused both goblin and magical folk alike in the building to start slightly. In the will reading room, everyone had backed up to the walls as anything that was not nailed down was shaking at the raw emotional power that was being let loose in the room.

Harry slowly calmed down as he felt feminine arms surround him and a voice whispered in his ear.

"Calm down, Harry," Hermione pleaded. "You're scaring everyone. I knew you were a powerful wizard, but there is no need to show everyone else."

Narcissa and Draco stood shocked at the power display. They both had known that their new lord was powerful, but not that powerful. They both looked at each other and nodded in understanding. They had made the right decision, not that they really had a choice if they wanted to survive for any length of time.

A deep laugh sounded throughout the room.

"Forgive me, Harry," Ragnok said while laughing, "but your Godfather's prediction was right on target. He said that you would react this way, so that is why he used his power as Head of House to terminate the Marriage Contracts. Since you were raised in the Muggle world, he figured that you most likely would not understand or agree to them, so he canceled them. It did cost a bit of gold to get it done."

"Are you saying," Harry said in shock, "that Sirius did this as a final joke? I would kill him, if he weren't already dead."

He mumbled the last part.

"Just out of curiosity, who were the contracts with?"

"This one, Harry," Ragnok said, the laughter in his voice as he held up one of the contracts, "was with the House of Flint. It was originally created back in the 1300's to help the House of Flint elevate from a Minor House to a Major House."

The aged goblin dropped it on to the table and picked up the next one.

"This one was with the House of Bulstrode. Again, it was created to help elevate the House of Bulstrode to a Major House. Now you can see why your Godfather cancelled them. He didn't think that you would like to have these two houses associated with you."

"Um, just how much did it cost Sirius to end those things?"

"Hmm," the elder goblin said thoughtfully as he read through one of them. "Ah, here it is and I quote: 'In order to terminate this Contract of Marriage, the sum, currently set at 500,000 Galleons, shall be paid by the terminating party. At anytime, the sum can be renegotiated.' The last renegotiation for this one was in 1922, when it was last executed."

Setting it down, he picked up the other one and quickly scanned it.

"This one cost 1,000,000 Galleons to terminate, since it was older than the other one. So it would seem that your Godfather spent a million and a half Galleons to get these cancelled."

"Thank you, Ragnok," said a greatly calmed Harry. "Um, is that all we need to do today?"

The elder goblin leader gave Harry a small smile.

"I think that we can schedule another time to go over the contents of both House portfolios. What do you say to next week on Thursday at 10 am?"

"That works for me, Lord Ragnok. I shall see you and Griphook then. Oh, um, can I use the same portkey as before?"

"Harry," the gruff old goblin leader laughed, "the portkey that Griphook gave to you last month is a permanent two way portkey from your location to his office. All of the Ancient Families have them."

"Um," stuttered Harry in embarrassment, "thanks. Ok then, see you on Thursday at 10 then."

Nodding in agreement, Ragnok handed Harry two thick folders containing all of the important details of each House portfolio and left the room with Griphook in tow.

Turning to the Grangers, Narcissa and Draco, Harry made a decision.

"Ok, I think it's time to go home. Now where we are going is under the Fedelius Charm with me as the Secret Keeper. So, Hermione, do you and your parents want to come with me and spend some time together?"

Hermione looked over at her parents. She could see that they were holding a silent conversation with just their looks and facial expressions. After several moments, Sarah turned and looked at Harry.

"How long are we talking about, Harry?"

Scratching the back of his head, Harry just shrugged his shoulders.

"That's up to you really, but I would really like the chance to get to know you. Plus there are a few things that I need to talk with Hermione about."

"Oh? And just what that might involve?"

"Mum," Hermione said to her mother, "I am sure that is about what happened this year and plus what he wrote in that notebook. Right, Harry?"

Harry just nodded.

"Alright then," John said, "we will come with you for a few days, but we really must get back soon so we can start working again at our surgery."

Harry just gave everyone a crooked smile. Pulling the piece of parchment that Griphook had given him, he told everyone to grab on. Once everyone had, he tapped it with his wand and everyone left in the room vanished in a flash of light.

Reappearing in the front hall of a beautiful villa in Italy, everyone landed pretty hard and promptly fell down.

"Master Harry," yelled an overexcited voice, "yous is home. Yous didn't tell me yous be bringing visitors when you left."

The small group looked over to where the voice was coming from and saw that a young female house elf was standing there dressed in what could only be described as a uniform. It consisted of a brightly colored blouse with long sleeves and matching skirt. The Potter crest was prominently displayed on her shoulder.

With a slight pop, an older male elf appeared. He wore a brightly colored long sleeved shirt with a vest tucked into a pair of pants and boots.

"Pilly," the male elf said kindly, "yous knows that is not how yous is supposed to greet Master Harry."

"Sorry, papa," Pilly said contritely, hanging her head.

"It's alright, Dilly," Harry said kindly as he helped Hermione up off of the floor.

He could tell from the narrowing of her eyes that she was about to explode and go off on her rant about House Elf rights and them being slaves. Before she could start, Harry pre-empted her rant.

"Dilly, would you be so kind as escort Hermione and her parents to the Library and have Dobby and Winky meet them there. I would like to have Dobby and Winky explain how House Elf magic works to them. Can you do that for me please?"

"Of course, Master Harry," the elder elf said kindly as he turned to the Grangers. "If Mistress Grangy and Mistress Grangy's parents would follow me please?"

"Just go with him," Harry pleaded with Hermione. "Once I take care of Draco and Narcissa, I will join you in the Library and you can yell at me then, Ok?"

Her chocolate brown eyes flashing angrily, she simply nodded and gestured for her parents to follow her. Once they were out of earshot, Harry sighed.

"Pilly, would be so kind as to ask Milly if she would make a light lunch for everyone? I will be in my study with Narcissa and Draco. Hermione and her parents will be in the Library. I also need some rooms made up for everyone. Can you do that for me?"

"Pilly be glad to," Pilly said nodding her head enthusiastically.

With a soft pop, she left the remaining trio.

Gesturing for the two former Malfoys to follow him, he started off down the opulent hallway. The well kept marble floors and paneled walls gleamed with the love and care that the Potter elves put into their work. Paintings of various House members lined the walls as Harry led them deeper into the villa.

Finally stopping at an ornately carved oak door, Harry led Draco and Narcissa into his study.

Draco and Narcissa paused as they took in the room. A five hundred year old Persian rug covered the floor. The room was lit by a hanging gilded chandelier that was powered by electric lights. Two decorated windows showed a beautiful view of the surrounding hillsides. Shelves lined the other walls and were filled with books. A large painting of a rough looking man was hung behind the large ancient desk that Harry had taken up residence behind. Two comfortable looking chairs were placed in front of it.

Harry gestured for the duo to sit in the chairs. Once they were comfortable, a service appeared with tea and sandwiches for them to eat. Harry smiled. His friends knew him well.

Taking a cup of tea and a sandwich, Harry started to eat. After looking at each other, Narcissa and Draco followed suit.

"Ok," Harry started off, "Narcissa, I bet you are wondering why I did what I did, aren't you?"

"Yes, milord," the aging beauty said, "I am. I really don't understand why you did what you did. My son had just lost a duel with you for the Head of the House of Black. You were well within your rights to banish us without a knut in our pockets. Why did you do it?"

Harry gave a deep sigh.

"Tell me, what do you know of Tom's plans for you if you had failed to deliver the Black Family to him?"

At their puzzled looks at his use of Tom, Harry gave them a wry smile.

"Tom Marvolo Riddle is your Dark Lord's real name. He was born in the late 1920s and was raised in a non magical orphanage. He was sorted into Slytherin House when he first went to Hogwarts. During his time there, he became a Prefect and Head Boy. He is also responsible for opening the Chamber of Secrets during his time there, releasing the Basilisk and killing the girl now known as Moaning Myrtle. While at the school, he changed his name to Lord Voldemort and started to delve into the Dark Arts."

Seeing their incredulous looks, Harry pulled a thick volume from the shelf behind him and handed it to Narcissa. Curious, Draco leaned over to see what the book was. On its cover was the crest of Hogwarts. Both of the ex-Purebloods knew that this book was available only to Heads of Houses so they could keep track of those in their House. For a fee, you could get a watered down version of this, but for your graduating year only.

"That is a self updating book of all of the graduates for last one hundred and fifty years from Hogwarts. It gives a small bio on each person, class rankings and interests pursued at Hogwarts. Look at the class of 1944 or 1945, I think, and you will find him listed there."

Doing as she was told, Narcissa opened the book to the first date specified. Looking through the names, she found the entry for Tom Riddle. She gasped as she recognized the picture that was next to name. It showed a young handsome Tom Riddle before he really started to delve into the Dark magic in his pursuit of immortality.

Draco's eyes widened in shock as he read the entry for himself. It even gave the name of the orphanage that Tom lived at while growing up. He looked back up at his raven haired Head of House and saw a sadness in his eyes that hadn't been there before.

"Yes, it's true. Your Dark Lord is a Half-Blood who is just using your Blood Purity racism to gain power over those that he hates. Namely those like himself. Now, do you know what he had planned for you if and when you failed to bring him the Black Family fortune?"

They both shook their heads no. All expression left Harry's face and his voice became flat and emotionless.

"Narcissa, you would have been tonight's entertainment. His plans included having all of his Death Eaters have a go at you, including your sister Bellatrix. If you survived that, the he would then have moved onto some torture. Surviving that, well then, some healing and it would have started all over again until you were of no use to anyone. Depending on your state, he planned to either turn you over to Greyback so he could have some fun with you or he would have had you impaled in his throne room as a reminder of what happens to those who have failed him."

"You, Draco, would have been given to Dolohov. Tom's instructions where to make it educational for all new Death Eaters and to the children of current Death Eaters."

Seeing their shocked faces, Harry sighed and decided to tell them how he knew this. Pointing at his scar, the messy haired young man continued.

"As you may or may not know, this blasted scar gives me a link to Tom's mind and he to mine. That is how I know what I know."

Harry gave both of them a hard look.

"No matter what you think of me, I am now, for better or worse, your lord and master. I know for a fact that none of us like it, but it's true. I don't subscribe to your ideals and you think that I am a moron and a Blood Traitor. I really don't care. It is now my job to take care of both of you. So listen up and this is how it's going to be:"

"Narcissa, as of right now, you are my Ward. To me, that means that I have to provide a place for you and your son to stay. I will do that. As of now, you are Ms Black, a single mother with a son to finish raising. I don't know you personally and you don't know me, but you have seen a little of what I am capable of. Don't test me."

"I don't care how you treated people and House Elves in the past, but from now on, you will treat everyone equally. You are no better than myself, Hermione or her parents. You will treat them with respect. You will also treat my elves with the respect that they deserve. Mistreat them in any way, and I will have you doing things on your own. I think that you will find that if you give them the proper respect, then you will get it in return."

"Your Blood Purity crap ends now. I know that is how you were raised, but it ends now. As your Head of House, I order you to comply. Do you understand, Ms Black?"

"Yes, milord," the shocked beauty said.

Turning to look at Draco, Harry started laying down the law to him.

"Now for you, Draco. First off, you will no longer call anyone Mudblood or any other derogatory name. Remember, in the eyes of your Pure Blood fanatics, you are now less than Hermione, as far as Blood Status goes. Second, you will treat any of my guests with respect. You are no longer a Malfoy, but a Black, so act like it. Same goes for the House Elves. Third, if you challenge me again, in anything, you won't like what happens to you. The only reason that I let your mother adopt you and bring you with her is because I know what it's like to lose your family. Listen to her and respect her."

"Finally, you will no longer be attending Hogwarts. If I let you go back there, the other Slytherins would kill you before the first night is out. Therefore, you will be attending the school in Salem, MA in the United States. They have a very good program and don't care about Blood status. Conduct yourself appropriately while you are there. Mess up at all and I will pull you out of there and you will not be happy with what I will do with you then. Am I understood, Mr. Black?"

"Why there and not Durmstrang," Narcissa asked.

"If I sent him there," Harry responded, not taking his eyes off of Draco, "he would be someone's play thing before the end of the first hour. Also, Madam Maxine will not have him at her school. She told me that personally."

Seeing that Draco was seething at these conditions, Harry just waited for him to do something stupid. Fortunately for him, Narcissa grabbed his arm and whispered something in his ear. Slowly, he calmed down.

"I, I," Draco choked out, "understand and will comply, milord."

Narrcissa turned back to Harry and gave him an appraising look. She saw him return it in full measure. Then he gave her a crooked smile.

"I'm not what you expected, am I, Narcissa?"

The aging beauty tilted her head to one side as she continued to look at him.

"No, you're not. I expected to find a young man who is timid and easily led. You most definitely are not what I expected. It has only been a month since your Godfather died. I figured that you would still be grieving for him. You do not seem to be. Why is that?"

"A lot has happened to me since that night in the Ministry. More than you can even guess."

Deciding to see what she knew about the Potters, he asked her a simple question.

"Tell me, Narcissa, what do you know of Potters and their homes?"

Sitting back in her chair, she continued to study the young man seated before her for several moments. Then she launched into the topic.

"It is said that your line is descended from Gryffindor and Merlin, so that makes the Potters THE Most Ancient and Noble House. Also, supposedly, you have some ties to the Muggle Royal line, but I don't really know. Financially, you could buy and sell most of the Pureblood Houses twice over. Politically, the Potters hold considerable power in the Wizengamot, due to the age of the House and the alliances that they have built up over the years. As a bonus, you now have two seats, so that potentially doubles your power base, you will have to see how that plays out in the Wizengamot since your new seat has been diametrically opposed to your original seat."

"When your father chose to marry a Muggleborn instead of a Pureblood, it really caused a scandal in the upper reaches of the Pureblood circles. But it was figured that we would have a chance at getting his offspring, so it didn't cause too much concern at the time. Then you came along and somehow ended the Dark Lord's reign of terror. With you disappearing right after that into the Muggle world, no one really knew if you were alive or dead or what to make of you, since you had not been presented to the Purebloods as tradition demanded that you should. So a wait and see attitude was taken by those who had Pureblood daughters of compatible ages to see if you would turn up at Hogwarts and possibly try to arrange something then."

"That failed spectacularly," she said, laughing bitterly. "When you showed up on at Hogwarts, none of the Purebloods could recognize you as a Potter. You were to short, skinny and shy to be a Potter. After the events of that year, only one or two ladies had any chance with you at all, since the Granger girl had effectively sewn you up."

"Some of the Families believe that there still might be a chance to marry off one of their daughters to you, especially now that you hold two titles instead one. You must be careful now, milord, when your open any new correspondence."

She paused as she tried to remember everything that she could about the homes that the Potters owned. Then a little tidbit of information popped into her head.

"It was once rumored that the Potters had something in one of their homes that let them hold Family reunions and business meetings in a secure place. But whenever anyone approached them about it, the questions were simply not answered or shunted aside. I really don't know much else about their homes, since most Purebloods like to keep their home's special abilities to themselves."

She then gracefully shrugged her shoulders at her liege lord, then launched into a detailed discussion on what she knew of the Blacks and the Potters.

While his mother was educating Potter about his past and his relations, a fuming Draco continued to study the book that he had been reading. After reading that the Dark Lord was nothing but a Half-Blood mongrel, he had continued to flip through the book, checking out people that he knew.

Keeping half an ear to what his mother was saying, he himself up in the book. Smirking, he saw that it had his name changed from Malfoy to Black. Then he saw his class ranking, it was in the bottom third of the class.

Slightly upset, the blond haired boy turned to page that contained the details about Harry. To his surprise, he saw that his new liege lord was in the top ten students of their year. His shock must have been evident because suddenly felt a jab to his ribs. Looking up, his eyes locked with Harry's for a moment then slid over to his mothers.

"What is it, my son?"

Unable to find his voice, he simply handed the book back to his mother. Her expression turned to shock as she read the entry for her new lord. Harry's laughter finally broke the spell.

"I take it," he said with genuine laughter in his voice, "that you found the page that talks about me and what I have done while at Hogwarts. Quite interesting reading, isn't it?"

The two shocked platinum blondes just nodded and stared at their Head of House. Before they could ask, he told them that it was all true, because the book was charmed to only display the truth. It couldn't be faked or fooled.

Looking at his watch, he saw that over an hour had passed since he had started his talk with his two new charges.

"Dilly," he called out.

With a soft pop, the elder house elf appeared.

"Yes, Master?"

"How many times have I asked you to call me Harry," the emerald eyed young man asked his chief house elf.

"147 times, Master," the elf responded dutifully.

A short battle of wills ensued and Harry, as always, lost. Sighing, he asked Dilly to escort Narcissa and Draco to their new rooms. The elf bowed to his master and promptly led the new Blacks to their rooms.

Sighing heavily, Harry got up from chair and headed towards the Library and the confrontation that he knew was coming.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters or anything, they belong to JKR and her fellows. This is just done for relaxation and fun.

AN: I know, it's been a year since I posted anything on this story. This chapter was mostly done last year, I just wanted to complete the whole story before I posted anything. I got most of the next chapter done and the rest of the story mostly plotted and thought out. Now I just have to get off my lazy backside and finish writing it.

I will only say this about my absence from this site: I am a contractor working in Iraq and as most people know, it is drawing to a close. I, like a lot of people around the world, will most likely be joining the unemployment line soon. Yes, worrying about that, a few medical problems that are still ongoing with both me and my other half, and having to constantly study for new certs in order to keep my job have taken up most of my time. Plus as I said, I tend to be a bit lazy. While I make no promises to update regularly, I will be updating when I can or as I finish a chapter.

* * *

Chapter 6: Elf magic

**Italian Potter Vila**

**Just after Arrival**

"_Dilly, would you be so kind as escort Hermione and her parents to the Library and have Dobby and Winky meet them there. I would like to have Dobby and Winky explain how House Elf magic works to them. Can you do that for me please?"_

"_Of course, Master Harry," the elder elf said kindly as he turned to the Grangers. "If Mistress Grangy and Mistress Grangy's parents would follow me please?"_

"_Just go with him," Harry pleaded with Hermione. "Once I take care of Draco and Narcissa, I will join you in the Library and you can yell at me then, Ok?"_

_Her chocolate brown eyes flashing angrily, she simply nodded and gestured for her parents to follow her._

As the Head Elf led the three Grangers down an opulent hallway away from Harry and the two ex-Malfoys and into another wing of the magnificent home, Hermione was just seething.

_How could he keep these wonderful creatures as slaves_, thought the bushy haired young lady. _And why did he call me 'Mistress Grangy'?_

For their part, Sarah and John looked around at the obvious wealth that was on display. From the priceless works of art adorning the walls to the highly polished marble floor to the frescoed ceiling. The lower portions of the walls were decked out in finely crafted red oak paneling.

The doors that led off of the hallway on each side were just as decorated as the walls. Made of highly desirable rare woods and with hand carved crests and decals, the doors were more works of art than doors.

The hallway ended with two huge highly decorated doors. Each one was about ten feet in height and about three feet wide. On one door was the fabled Crest of Merlin and the other wore the Crest of Gryffindor. Linking the two doors was the Potter Family Crest, cut right down the middle with half of the Crest on each door.

Not able to contain herself any longer, Hermione spoke up.

"Dilly is it," she asked, but before the tiny elf could respond, she continued. "Why are you calling me 'Mistress? Why does Harry have House Elves? Are you slaves? Are you happy with him? If you're wearing clothes, then aren't you free?"

When she paused for a breath, Dilly spoke up.

"Please, Mistress," the Head Elf said calmly. He had been warned that she might ask these questions. "I is Dilly. Pilly is my daughter and Milly is my life mate and Pilly's mother. I's take care of the grounds with Dobby. Dilly is cook. Pilly and Winky clean inside."

"Master Harry has several homes and each one has House Elves to care for it. We's is slaves, but we's love Master Harry and he's loves us. Is part of House Elf magic. We's wearing a uniform, not clothes. All Potter Elves were uniforms. We's be proud of being Potter Elves and belonging to Master Harry."

With that, Dilly turned back to the doors and pushed them open. Smiling, the Head Elf ushered the Grangers into the main Potter Library. All three visiting intellectuals gasped at the size of the Library and the number of books it contained.

Where the Hogwarts Library was all on one level in a huge room, the Potter Library was split into three different levels, with stairs leading to each level. The vaulted ceiling was home to several chandeliers and a huge fresco that covered the entire ceiling. Spaced about the room were comfortable chairs and some work tables, each on in its own pool of light. At the end of each row of books was a stylishly designed window that let in the outside light. There were also three floor to ceiling windows along one side of the room. It basically took up the whole end of the wing that it was in.

The number of books that this room contained was staggering. Hermione gasped at the amount of knowledge that was represented in this room and knew that she could be very happy here in this room for the rest of her life. So could Sarah and John, both of whom loved to read and learn.

The Head House Elf led the trio over to one of the sitting areas that had several comfortable couches surrounding low coffee table. Already seated in one of the couches were Dobby and Winky, shyly holding hands. On the table sat a tea service and some sandwiches for everyone to eat.

"Good, yous is here," Dilly said when he saw that Dobby and Winky were already there. "Master Harry wants yous to inform Mistress Grangy about House Elf magic and why we's slaves."

"Dobby and Winky do," Dobby said for the both of them as the young House Elves nodded their heads enthusiastically.

With that, Dilly left with a slight pop so he wouldn't have to answer why the House Elves were calling the Mistress, Mistress. Master Harry had warned them that she might get a bit upset about it.

Taking the couch opposite of the waiting House Elves, Hermione sat down while placing Harry's notebook on the table and taking some tea and a sandwich for herself. Sarah and John quickly followed suit, claiming seats next to their highly curious daughter. Once the three Grangers had taken what they wanted, Dobby and Winky also took some tea and a sandwich.

"Ok, Dobby," the bushy haired young lady started, "why are you slaves? Why do you seem to enjoy it? And why are you calling me 'Mistress'? Harry and I are not married."

Dobby and Winky looked at each other for a moment. With a simple nod, Winky indicated that Dobby should go first.

"Mistress Grangy," the excitable House Elf said solemnly, "we's be calling you Mistress because you is Mistress. You's and Master Harry Potter sir have shared you's magic. That be making you's Mistress."

The way that he said this and the fact that Winky was nodding her head in agreement stunned the three Grangers. Sarah was the first to recover as she saw the faraway look that was in her daughter's eyes as she absentmindedly rubbed her right hand.

"Um, Dobby," the shocked Sarah stuttered, "just what do you mean that Harry and my daughter have 'shared magic'?"

Winky answered for the tongue tied Dobby.

"In Hoggy Healing place, Master Harry held Mistress Grangy's hand while she's be Stoned and after Bad Night. Master Harry gave Mistress Grangy some of his magic to help. He's be not knowing he be doing it, Mistress Grangy's Ma'am. Mistress Grangy is now Mistress Grangy."

"And what does that mean exactly," an irate John asked thinking of the worst case scenario that could happen.

"We's don't know," Dobby said dejectedly. "We's just know that Mistress Grangy is Mistress Grangy and any Potter House Elf woulds be calling Mistress Grangy, Mistress Grangy cause Master Harry gaves her part of his magic. Gobliny Peoples can see it too."

Finally collecting her thoughts, Hermione spoke up.

"Dobby, Winky," she said kindly, "is there a book or scroll that would explain this?"

Before either Elf could answer, Dilly popped in with a large ancient tome and handed it to Hermione. He popped right back out again.

Looking at the cover, Hermione smiled as she felt the age of the leather that held the book together. Even though it had no title, she could tell that is was very old. Slowly opening the cover to the first page, she read the title out loud.

**The Magical World of Bonds, Life Debts, and the Sharing of Magic By Edgar Potter**

Reverently turning the pages, the chocolate eyed self acknowledged book worm slowly made her way to the section that described the sharing of magic. Finding the section, she began to read.

While she was doing that, Sarah and John shared a look and then nodded to each other. Clearing his throat, John spoke first.

"So, um, Dobby," the slightly irate and confused father started, "from what we have seen today at Gringotts, do you mind if we ask you some questions?"

"You's can ask and Dobby be answering if he's knows answer."

"Ok, do you know why this Headmaster Dumbledore did what he did to our daughter?"

Dobby and Winky looked at each other, then looked at the floor. Neither of them really wanted to answer that question. Summoning up his courage, Dobby did though.

"Heady Whiskers wanted Mistress Grangy for Master Harry's not friend now Wheazy. We's so happy Master Harry was able to get Mistress Grangy away from Wheazy. Wheazy mean at her sometimes."

"Easy there, warhorse," Sarah said as she grabbed her irate husband's arm and held him in place. "Let's find out why before you go all Rambo. Dobby, do you know why he would do that?"

While Dobby just shrugged his shoulders, Winky answered.

"Winky overheard Heady Whiskers and Greasy Haired One talking. They's be saying that Master Harry needed to be with proper lady and Mistress Grangy is only for breeding. Winky was upset when they's say that."

A now very pissed off John was seething in his seat, only Sarah holding on to his arm held him in place.

"Are you saying," he growled out, "that these two idiots are saying that my wonderful daughter is just for producing children? That she is no better than a common whore?"

As much as they didn't want to agree with the elder Granger, the two life mated House Elves did.

"Winky also bes hearing that theys want to match Master Harry with either Miss Wheazy or Miss Bones. Mistress Grangy was to bes given to Mister Wheazy or someones whos be wanting her. Winky most unhappy when shes hears that. Winky likes Mistress Grangy. Winky would do anything for Mistress Grangy."

"So," Sarah started to ask to clear up any confusion, "you are calling my daughter 'Mistress' because Harry gave her some of his magic and not because they have had sex, are married or something like that? It is just because Harry has accidentally given her some of his magic, right?"

"Yes, Mistress Grangy's Ma'am," Dobby answered while nodding his head enthusiastically.

"So," asked a slightly relieved John, "you and the other Elves will be calling my daughter 'Mistress' because, in your view, she is some how connected to Harry when he accidentally gave her some of his magic and he made her that way?"

Dobby was nodding his head while Winky answered yes.

"Thank you," a slightly relieved John said.

While they had been talking, Hermione continued to read the relevant passage in the book.

_When one person shares their magic with another, whether by design or accident, there is a chance of the lender permanently giving some of their loaned magic to the receiver. Especially if the lender is or has more magical power than the receiver. If this happens, then the receiver will then be viewed as being part of the lender's House._

_In the case of an unmarried male, for some reason, lending his magic to an unattached female, then the odds are that the lending will become permanent and the result will be the female becoming part of his House. If he is the Head of his House, then all bonded House Elves will then refer to the witch in question as 'Mistress', whether there is any romantic interest at all, and the female in question will always be referred to by that title by the House Elves._

_It has been my experience that the lender will always somehow make the loan of magic permanent in the case of the lender being more powerful than the recipient. I personally have somehow gained three witches when I loaned them my magic when I healed them during life threatening situations, I am a trained Healer after all. Since I am the current Head of House Potter, all three of them are now referred to as 'Mistress'. It is driving my wife crazy having these other witches called Mistress by the House Elves, but we are working on it._

_There is also the chance of a type of love bond forming if there is a romantic interest on either part of the lender or the receiver. The type of bond depends on the level of romantic interest between the two. I myself have formed a bond with my wife but not with the other three witches. It remains to be seen if I do. I hope not, my wife would more than likely kill me if I did._

_On the other side of the sharing of magic is that of a witch sharing her magic with a wizard. This also has been known to happen, especially in the case of mediwitches. When this happens, there is the same risks involved as I have previously described. The main problem with this is if the witch is already married, since most wizards don't like to share their witches._

_A double standard, I know, but that is the way that it is, for now._

_Now for the major complication: Life Debts. If a Life Debt is already somehow in place between the people sharing their magic, then it will more than likely involve some sort of bond forming. This can be anywhere from a loyalty bond to a full marriage bond and anything in between.. It really depends on the nature of the relationship beforehand._

_Fortunately for me, I do not see any type of these bonds forming with the three witches that I have shared my magic with. Normally I would not have shared my magic with these witches but at the time it was necessary to save their lives. Since it is my job to save people, no Life Debt was incurred when I saved their lives._

_But I do know of a mediwitch who shared her magic with a patient of hers who already owed her a Life Debt. The unintended result of the magical sharing was that a Mate Bond was formed. Do not confuse this with a Marriage Bond, it is not, but it could turn into a Marriage Bond, if romantic feelings develop. _

_A Mate Bond is formed between a wizard and a witch who are of childbearing years and have the need for offspring. In the case of the mediwitch, she was single and the last of her blood line. The wizard was the third son of a wealthy merchant. The last that I heard of them was that they had four children together. A very nice couple indeed._

The rest of the text went on to describe the various types of bonds that could be formed from magical sharing. Hermione noticed that the trend seemed to be that if the lender was more powerful than the receiver, than the loan became permanent for the receiver and some type of bond was formed.

Gently closing the book, she sat back in thought.

_So_, the bushy haired young lady thought, _more than likely, Harry has accidentally shared and given me some of his magic. That explains why Harry's elves are calling me 'Mistress'. And based on my recovered memories, we both have feelings for each other, so there is a good chance that we will form some type of bond. Hmm, I will have to do some research on that_.

Coming out of her thoughts, Hermione pinned the two House Elves with her piercing chocolate eyes.

"So," she started saying kindly, "Winky, you, Dobby and the other Potter Elves are going to be calling me 'Mistress' because Harry accidentally gave me some of his magic when I was petrified in second year and last month when I was in the Infirmary, correct?"

"Yes, Mistress Grangy," they hyper House Elves said in concert.

"That is what I thought," she said nodding her head, "and this book confirms what you have just told my mum and dad. Now why are you slaves? Harry knows how I feel about this."

Sharing a look, the two mated Elves launched into the tale of how a portion of the Race of Elves became common House Elves.

"Was very long time ago," the hyperactive House Elf known as Dobby started sadly, "was a war. War was between all magic creatures. It was very bad."

"Many magic creatures died," Winky continued in the same sad tone. "We's don't know why it started, we's know that at the end, House Elves was born. House Elves used to be Free Elves, but we's on losing side of war."

"It's said," a somber Dobby took over, "that some Free Elves betrayed some Human Wizards. We's not sure, but when war is over, some Free Elves were bound to Human Masters and Mistresses. House Elves born."

"Our magic, Mistress," Winky continued tearfully, "was bound to that of ours Masters and Mistresses. We's can't harm ours Masters or Mistresses, we's must obey all orders. If we's given clothes, then we's loose our magic and die."

"We's can bes bound," Doddy continued, "to a Master or Mistress, but we's rather bes bound to a Family. Is better. If we's bound to a Master or Mistress, then we's die when theys die."

"If we's bound," Winky carried on, "to's a powerful Family, then we's change. The longer we's bound to powerful House, the more Elf like we's become. Dobby and Winky think that we's become more Elf like soon. Just like other Potter Elves."

This statement seemed to brighten up the two sad House Elves.

This last statement caused the looks on the Granger's faces to turn from shocked horror to one of confusion.

"Wha, wha, what,"stuttered Hermione.

"Well, Mistress" said a blushing Winky, "Master Harry is very powerful wizard and House Potter is too. The longer we's be bound to House Potter, the more we's look like Elves and not House Elves."

"But," stammered Hermione, "you two and the other House Elves look like normal House Elves. And what do you mean, 'more Elf like'?"

Dilly suddenly appeared in the Library in his full Elf form. Gone was the short bug eyed, long floppy eared House Elf that was generally thought to be the normal House Elf form. Instead, Dilly now looked to be of medium height with a slight build. His ears had shrunk to a slightly larger than normal size with points at the tips. The Head Elf's large protruding eyes had shrunk back to normal and turned a pale blue, almost silver in color. Long lustrous blond hair fell past his shoulders and framed his thin face and slightly pointed chin. He now looked like what an Elf had always been depicted in painting and writings of old. He still spoke the same though.

"This is our true form, Mistress," Dilly said. "We's is sorry for not showing yous earlier, but Master Harry said yous might want answers right away and hex him to do's it. We's is sorry, Mistress. Please don't hex Master Harry."

The gobsmacked bushy haired young woman just stared at the three House Elves in front of her. Quickly regaining her wits, Hermione studied all three closely. Now that she was looking for it, the self professed bookworm could now see slight changes in both Dobby and Winky. They were slowly changing into real Elves, if the slightly smaller ears and eyes were any indication.

"Fine," she sighed, "I won't hex or curse Harry about this, as it looks to be a good thing, but IF he is holding anything else back from me, then who knows what might happen. Ok?"

All three House Elves nodded in agreement.

"Ok, now that that is all cleared up," expressed the bushy haired young woman, "tell me about this training that Harry has gone through and how do I get in on it."

The three House Elves shared a look between them, then Dilly decided to field this question.

"Since Master Harry arrived here," started the Chief Elf, "the Gobliny People have provided Master Harry with tutors so Master Harry can bes a full Wizard. Hes also looking for ways to beat Evil Bad Person and Heady Whiskers. Master Harry wants this so hes can have own life."

"If yous wants to" continued Dobby, "yous need to asks Master Harry abouts tutors. I thinks hes will let you join in."

"Now," the chocolate eyed young woman started, "what can you tell me about this library."

The excitement was palatable in her voice.

The three Elves looked at each other, then Dilly spoke, since had been a part of House Potter longer.

"Master Harry," the elder House Elf explained, "when hes arrived heres, hes was not really happy. Very sad, Mistress Grangy. Hes knows that hes needs to know how to beat Bad Evil Person, so hes asks us about Potter Library. I's shows Master Harry this room, but it not have all of the books it has now. The Gobliny People told Master Harry that Master Harry has many homes with their own Libraries."

"Master Harry then goes to each homes and meets the House Elves at each home. Hes also looked at Potter Libraries. Master Harry then has House Elves move all Libraries to here. DINK!"

There was a soft pop next to Dilly. A House Elf that looked similar to Dilly appeared next to then Head Elf, also dressed in the standard Potter Elf uniform.

"Yous called, Dilly," the elf said in a high pitched voice, "Dink is here."

"Dink," the blond haired House Elf said turning to the new Elf, "this is Mistress Grangy and Mistress Grangy's parents, Sarah and John. Mistress Grangy has asked about Potter Library. Yous the Potter Elf Librarian."

The now identified Potter House Elf Librarian turned to the Grangers and bowed.

"Mistress Grangy," squeaked the surprised Librarian. "Yous bes wanting to knows about Library, then Dink bes answering yous questions, Mistress."

Before Hermione could even take a breath to start asking her questions, a well known voice sounded from behind her.

"So, when's my execution?"

* * *

I know, a kind of cliffie, but hey, I still need a hook for the next chapter, right? Kind of short, I know, but the next chapter is almost done, I just need to finish it and this story. A word of warning: this story was never meant to be a long one, at most 10 to 12 chapters.

Later,

Wulf


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

**Gathering the Items and Revelations**

As usual, I don't own Harry Potter or its characters. They belong to JKR. I'm just borrowing them. I make no money doing this, it is just for fun.

Yes, this story was mostly inspired by a story by Seel'vor. He has some good stuff. Now on with the chapter.

From that last chapter:**  
**

_"Dink," the blond haired House Elf said turning to the new Elf, "this is Mistress Grangy and Mistress Grangy's parents, Sarah and John. Mistress Grangy has asked about Potter Library. Yous the Potter Elf Librarian."_

_The now identified Potter House Elf Librarian turned to the Grangers and bowed._

_"Mistress Grangy," squeaked the surprised Librarian. "Yous bes wanting to knows about Library, then Dink bes answering yous questions, Mistress."_

_Before Hermione could even take a breath to start asking her questions, a well known voice sounded from behind her._

_"So, when's my execution?"_

_

* * *

_

The three Grangers spun around in their seats so fast that they might have developed whiplash.

"Harry," cried an excited bushy haired self described bookworm. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Oh, just long enough to hear about my Library collection," the emerald eyed young man said with a crooked smile.

Harry could see that Hermione and her parents had several questions, but he held up his hand to forestall any outburst. Hermione started to chew on her bottom lip at the held up hand.

"What you see here is the entire acquired knowledge of House Potter, collected from its humble beginnings to present. Dink here has been the Chief Librarian since my mother's time. I had everything moved here to simplify access while I prepared myself to take my International NEWTs."

"As you can see," continued the young Head of House Potter, "this Library is on par with the one at Hogwarts, but it has several tomes, grimiores, and journals that are Family related."

Harry paused for a moment as he had a decision to make. Mentally shrugging his shoulders, the lightening bolt having young Lord continued.

"Dink, could you get the Master Book please?"

"Yous sure, Master," questioned the stunned Potter Chief Librarian.

"I trust her with my life, Dink, so yes, I'm sure."

Nodding his head, the House Elf popped away and returned a few seconds later with a rather large tome that had the Potter Crest on its front. Handing it reverently over to Harry, Dink then took up a position next to his lord.

"This, Hermione, is the Master Book list. It contains a list of every book that is housed within the Potter Library. There are some tomes in here that I know that Dumbledore would dearly love to have. Now in order to give you access to it, I need a drop of your blood, mixed with mine, so I can give you access. I will have to do the same with your parents if they want to read some of books too."

"Harry," the shocked Hermione finally stuttered after several moments, "are you sure?"

Knowing what this would mean to her, Harry just nodded his head yes. Hermione let out a squee then launched herself into his arms, barely giving him time to pass the large tome off to Dink. The elder Grangers exchanged glances with each other and smiled.

Once she had released Harry from the warm hug, the bushy haired young woman started to blush at what she had just done. Then getting a mischievous glint in her chocolate colored eyes, she smirked at Harry.

"You know, Harry, if you do this for me, I might start thinking that you really like me and might want to marry me."

The epic blush that covered the emerald eyed young lord's face as he dropped his eyes to the floor, caused several things happen at once. Hermione's expression was both shocked and pleased at the same time. John had been taking a sip of tea at the time and sprayed it all over the table in front of him. Sarah's jaw dropped to the floor at her daughter's audacity. The four Elves in the room just let out huge smiles.

While looking at the floor, the embarrassed young lord mumbled something.

"Sorry, Harry, but what did you say," asked an amused Hermione.

Even though he was technically three years older than when they had last seen each other, Hermione was still the only one who could make him blush like this. He also knew that she could read him like a book. Sighing, Harry raised his eyes and looked directly into chocolate colored ones.

"Well," started the embarrassed teen, "Ragnok did say that I needed to get married soon, and I can't think of a better person for the position then you, Hermione."

With that, Harry released the morph and returned to his real physique, his clothes adjusting to fit automatically. Before the shocked Grangers could get there scattered wits together, the young Lord Potter continued.

"According to both my parents' will and Sirius', I need to get married to the lady of my choice within a year of the Will reading since I am now emancipated. This is the thing though, technically, three years have passed for me, since I have been using the time device placed here to get ready for my NEWTs. So, logically, I should loose everything, since the allotted time has passed, but, and this is how Ragnok and the Goblins see it, there was no clause in the either will about using time turning devices."

"With that being said, Ragnok said that I needed to get married soon in order to close that loophole before some one really starts looking at my real age."

Seeing the shocked expressions on his guests faces, the emerald eyed young man gathered his courage and pressed on.

"Now, this is not to say that I have to get married right now, but I have to soon or I loose everything."

Looking directly into Hermione's shocked eyes, Harry reached out and gently took both of her hands into his.

"Hermione, you know me and I know that you can read me like a book, so you know that I am not lying or trying to put anything over on you. I will add you and your parents to the Potter Library. That way to you read up on everything that I have just told you about. Also, we have time to talk about this and discuss it."

"You have your memories back and I know that most of them involve me and how we have feel about each other. If you want, tomorrow I can take you and your parents on a little trip into the past and we can get to know each other better and they can see that I am not trying to pull a fast one."

He was about to continue when the emotionally upset female teen that he was holding hands with crashed into his arms and buried her head in his chest and wrapped her arms around him. While Hermione was sobbing into his chest, Harry looked over at the elder Grangers. He could see that Sarah had a thoughtful look on her face as she worked through everything that had happened during the day. John, on the other hand, was looking daggers at him as if looks could kill. The look that he was receiving from the male Dr Granger was one that all male teens had been given since the dawn of time by their date's fathers: _Hurt my little girl and they won't find the body_.

Harry was about to say something, when the warning wards tripped, letting him know that someone had just entered the villa. There was a slight pop and the scared young lord knew that Dilly had just left to see who it was. Several seconds later, Dilly returned with a pop.

"Master Harry, yous has a visitor. The Gobliny Blacktar is heres to sees you."

"Good. Could you show him into the Library? Winky, could you go and get Narcissa and Draco?"

The two Elves nodded and popped away.

"Harry," the still emotionally wrecked Hermione started to ask, "what's going on? I thought you said that this place was under the Fidelius charm with you as the Secret Keeper? If that's so, how can anyone just come in the you don't know about?"

Looking down into her eyes, just gave her a reassuring smile.

"Just a minute, Hermione. I need everyone to be here before I go into details. But you're right about the Fidelius. After it was done, I gave my account manager one permanent two way Portkey keyed only to him and a few others that were one time use, to be given out as needed. Now, would you like for me to add you and your parents to the Potter Library?"

"What about the Black Library, Harry?"

Smacking his forehead, Harry turned to his Chief Librarian.

"Dink, I need you and some of your associates to go to all of the Black properties and take a look at the Black Library. I know that some of the books at Grimmauld Place are really Dark, so be careful. If you think that a book needs to be destroyed, then go ahead and do so. I'm sure that some of those books will be to dangerous to be allowed to exist."

"Harry," exclaimed the bushy haired bookworm who was loath to harm a book in any fashion, "just because a book is about Dark magic, it shouldn't be destroyed."

"Hermione, some of those books are about Necromantic rituals and Black magic. I know because Sirius told me so. He was trying to find a way to destroy them before Snape or Dumbledore could get their hands on them. Do you want them to fall into those hands?"

Shaking her head no, the suddenly pale witch reburied her head in Harry's chest.

"Um," the until now silent Sarah started to say, "Harry, could I ask you a question about something?"

"Sure, ma'am."

The elder female Granger winced slightly as he called her that.

"Winky and Dobby were saying earlier that the Headmaster and someone called the 'Greasy Haired One' wanted you to be with someone of their choosing and that Hermione was to be 'given' to someone who would just use her as a baby factory. What do you know about this?"

The young Lord Potter sighed into Hermione's cinnamon scented hair as he heard this question. This had been something that he had hoped to avoid until later, like a few months from now. The young lady in his arms pulled back from their embrace so she could look up into his eyes. He could see that she too wanted an answer to this question. Sighing again, Harry stared into Hermione's eyes as he provided his answer.

"The reality of it is this," explained the emerald eyed Lord, "those that follow the 'Pureblood' tradition of only marring other Purebloods are breeding themselves into extinction. With each generation, they become fewer and fewer, by either producing non-magical children known as Squibs and expelling them from the Families or just producing one or two children of little to average magical strength."

"That is not to say that they can't produce above average wizards and witches, they do. Just not in the quantities that they used to. Those that follow the Pureblood dogma and only marry other Purebloods are beginning to show the symptoms of inbreeding. Crabbe and Goyle come to mind."

"What Dumbledore," continued Harry to his rapt audience, "and this is just a theory that I have come up with since I have been here, is trying to correct that, by forcing Muggleborns and Halfbloods into marriages against their will. Probably using potions provided by Snape or those that he has brewed himself. He is an alchemist after all. He could also be using compulsion charms too, like the ones that were on Hermione and I."

"And as Ragnok said, Dumbledore didn't get to where he is by being stupid or not knowing how to make things work for him."

Before Harry could continue, he was interrupted by three people being led into the Library. Winky was leading the former Malfoys, who still had the Head of House book with them. Both former Malfoys blinked in surprise at the look and physique that the new Lord Black was now showing. Behind them, Dilly was leading a formidable looking Goblin who was dressing armor. He also appeared to be carrying some recently healed wounds.

Upon entering the Library, the visibly angry Goblin locked onto the young Lord Potter and started to vent his anger.

"Lord Potter," hissed the Master Goblin Curse-Breaker, "as requested, me and my team have retrieved the item that we were contracted to, but at the cost of one of my team, Journeyman Curse-Breaker Fritzroy. Upon top of that, the item in question does not appear to be what you said it was!"

"What type of game are you playing? When I report this to the Goblin leaders, I will make sure that they seize a large portion of your assets as a fine for misleading the Goblin Nation that resulted in the death of one of its employees and the severe injury of several others!"

Before the angry Goblin could continue or Harry could respond, the warning wards went off again. Dilly popped away to see who it was. The Chief Elf quickly returned.

"Master Harry, Master Curse-Breaker Granite is here to see you, sir."

"Please bring him here to the Library, Dilly."

With that, the human looking House Elf popped away again. While everyone waited for the newest Goblin to grace the room with his presence, Harry studied the irate Goblin in front of him. He knew that the Master Curse-Breaker had it within his power to do most of what he had just said.

"Master Curse-Breaker Blacktar," began the raven haired teen, "in what way have I mislead the Goblin Nation that resulted in the death of one of your team members? I have acted in good faith in all of my dealings with the Goblin Nation. The item that you were contracted to retrieve, along with several others, was verified by pensive memories by your most senior Curse-Breakers that I provided myself. Those memories were retrieved by me from the source at great personal risk to myself, I might add."

"The item that I retrieved was not what it was stated to be," yelled Blacktar. "It is nothing more than a trinket, a piece of substandard jewelry that is wizard made, not Goblin made."

Before the highly irate Master Curse-Breaker could continue his rant, Dilly led another Goblin Curse-Breaker into the Library. This one was dressed similarly to Blacktar. Both were also of similar builds, short and stocky. As soon as the other Goblin entered the room, he started to talk to the other Curse-Breaker in the room in their native tongue. It was a very short conversation. By the end of it, Blacktar had visibly calmed down enough to just glare at Harry.

"My Lord Potter," started the Master Curse-Breaker known as Granite, "on behalf of my associate, I offer my apologies at his behavior. While it is understandable that he is upset at losing a valued member of his team, he should not have taken it out on you. I have seen the memories that you provided and according to them, the item that he and his team went after was genuine."

"I know what it is like to lose someone," stated the young emerald eyed man, "who is important to you. I accept the apologies and offer my own in return for causing the death of one his team. I of course will pay the agreed upon fee for the death of one the team members. I take it, Master Curse-Breaker Granite, that your hunt was more successful?"

"Indeed it was, Lord Potter," the Master Goblin smiled. "The curses and traps the memories showed that were emplaced were actually there. It took my team several days to remove them safely. We have retrieved the item in question and it does read as one of those vile abominations."

"Has anyone checked the LeStrange Vault at the London branch?"

Blacktar was about to say something, but glare from the more successful Curse-Breaker silenced him.

"Yes, Lord Potter, it has been checked for the item in question and it was found to be in the vault. As a penalty, the contents of the vault has been confiscated and a letter will be forwarded to the owner stating the reason for the penalty once the ritual is complete. One would assume that the owner of the vault would be in a lot of trouble from the owner of the item."

The smile that the Goblin gave the other people in the room was positively feral. Harry returned the smile and it sent shivers down Hermione's spine. Finally seeing an opening in the conversation, she cleared her throat.

"Um," the bushy haired know-it-all started, "Harry, what are you talking about? What's going on?"

"It does not concern you, woman," hissed the still irate Blacktar.

The room suddenly seemed to grow colder as the young Lord Potter visibly straightened to his full height.

"Careful, Master Blacktar," the Head of House Potter and Black said coldly, "for you address the future Lady Potter. Perhaps some formal introductions are in order, so you don't make that mistake again. Shall we begin?"

For the next several minutes, Harry formally introduced everyone to the Goblin Curse-Breakers. The Goblin known as Granite raised an eyebrow when both Narcissa and Draco were introduced as Blacks instead of Malfoy. Now that he had calmed down a little after the introductions, Blacktar could now see the magical bond that linked the two teens.

Harry could see that the still upset Master Curse-Breaker was about to offer his apologies for insulting the future Lady Potter, when he preempted him.

"It is alright, Master Curse-Breaker Blacktar," began the young Lord, "I kind of understand what you are going through. Even though it is not official, since I have not officially asked her yet, please do not talk to Hermione that way."

Before anyone else in the room could say anything, Harry continued.

"Now, Master Curse-Breaker Blacktar, which one were you asked to retrieve?"

"The locket," growled the still upset Goblin.

"Thank you, sir. And you, Master Curse-Breaker Granite?'

"The ring, milord, from the Gaunt residence. And as I said earlier, it does read as one of those abominations."

Harry knew that the two curse breaking Goblins would not say out loud what they had been hired to retrieve unless he told them it was safe to do so. Making a quick decision, the raven haired Lord Potter turned to the five other humans in the room.

"Okay, here's the deal," stated Harry in his most commanding tone, "From Hermione, Narcissa and Draco, I need an oath that you will not talk about anything that you see or hear from this point forward until I say otherwise. If you can't or won't make this oath, then leave now and we will talk about it later."

"From Drs Granger, I need you to remember that this will fall under doctor-patient confidentiality, because this most certainly affects my health and everyone in this room. Now please."

The five stunned humans each looked at Harry with different expressions. From Narcissa, he was getting another appraising look. Draco wore a calculating expression. Hermione was showing both shock and surprise. The esteemed Drs Grangers were showing thoughtful looks. Hermione was the first one to say something.

"Harry," she asked hesitantly, "will this answer several of the questions that I have?"

At Harry's nod, she gave her oath. When the light had faded, she had an expectant look in her cinnamon colored eyes.

"My Lord," the pale blonde beauty that was Narcissa asked, "does this have to do with how the Dark Lord survived his fall in 1981 and how he was resurrected during the Final Task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament?"

At her lord's hard gaze, she quickly explained herself.

"I am, foremost, a Black," explained the aging beauty. "Within the Black Family Library, which I was forced to read while growing up, there are tomes that describe how one might be able to survive death. While I would never do what was described within some of those grimores, I could see how someone like the Dark Lord would be."

"Mother," questioned the till now silent former Malfoy heir.

Turning to look at her offspring, Narcissa gave him an appraising look.

"Draco, my son, did you not wonder at that Diary that your former Father kept looking at? Or why he planted it on the Weasley girl? Or how he boasted about what would happen during your second year at Hogwarts? If it was what I think it was, then the Dark Lord has gone past the Dark Arts and into the Black Arts."

"While I supported most of the Pureblood philosophy, I most certainly did not support most of what your former Father did in the name of it. While I may be a Pureblood and raised to believe that it is the best thing to be, I am a woman first and foremost. Raping and murdering those of lesser standing is not the best way to do things."

Seeing the surprise and questioning look coming from her son, Narcissa went on.

"Draco, your former Father was going to force you to take the Dark Mark this summer. To do that, you would have had to torture, rape and murder a Muggle or Muggleborn girl. Yes, I say girl, not woman. I was forced to watch a Revel and an Induction Ceremony on occasion, so I know what is done there and what one has to do in order to get the Dark Mark. While Lucius really does enjoy that sort of thing, you would not. Not because you are weak, but because I don't think that you really could do it and enjoy it."

Before anyone could say anything, she pressed on.

"Yes, you may have spouted your ex-Father's beliefs, but did you really believe in them or did you just parrot him? Did you really mean those things that you said and did at Hogwarts or was it just to fit in with the other Slytherin? Be honest with yourself and you will see what I see, my son."

Turning back to her lord, the pale eyed beauty gave her oath without further ado.

While Narcissa had been talking to her son, the elder Grangers have been having a silent conversation using nothing but looks, raised eyebrows and body language. After being married for as long as they had, it was quite easy for them to understand each other that way and it was faster than talking. With a nod, John answered for both of them.

"Okay, Harry, you have our silence on this, but it had better be good or else."

Harry nodded at the implied threat and had actually expected it. Turing to Draco, he gave the pale blond young man a look that said that he had better answer and answer quickly. The silence stretched on.

"Draco Black," the hard eyed Lord Black finally asked in his commanding tone, "what is your answer?"

Finally deciding that there was an advantage to hearing what was going on and possibly using it later to help him in some way take what he believed he was due, the former Slytherin gave his oath.

_After all, it could lead to a way to kill Potter_, thought the young male former Malfoy.

"Very well," Harry said as he looked at Draco with suspicion. "Now, I have contracted the Goblins of Gringotts to find the vile things that kept Voldemort alive. These things or soul anchors as they are sometimes called are called Horcruxs and Riddle made several of them. It is one of the reasons he looks the way that he does, plus all of the rituals that he has done over the years."

Seeing the various expressions on the other humans in the room, Harry turned to the Goblin Curse-Breakers.

"Master Curse-Breaker Granite, if you would, could you please explain it in better detail? I am sure that Miss Black has an understanding of what these things are, but could you offer a more detailed explanation for the others here? Also, may I have a look at the locket in question, Master Curse-Breaker Blacktar?"

With a grunt, the first Goblin on the premises tossed Harry the Slytherin locket. While the Goblin known as Granite educated everyone in the room on how a soul anchor commonly known as a Horcrux was made, the messy haired teen studied the locket. Its shape and form seemed familiar to him, like he had seen it or held it before.

Releasing his hold on Hermione, the young Lord Potter moved off to one of the nearby tables. Setting down the famous Slytherin Locket, he proceeded to study every inch of it trying to trigger where he had seen it before.

While Harry was studying the locket, Hermione was turning a bit green at the Goblin's vivid description of what a Horcrux was and how it was made. It required a Necromantic ritual with the focus being a premeditated murder of a young innocent person, preferably a baby. The younger, more innocent the victim, the easier it was to split the soul and move the split off portion into the anchor. That Voldemort had made several of these spoke volumes of his drive to avoid death at all costs.

Granite had also covered the known ways to destroy one: Fiend Fyre, an exorcism (if the object needed to be saved for some reason), the Avada Kedavra curse and a sacred Goblin ritual that he would not talk about.

In the shocked silence that followed the explanation, Hermione moved over to join Harry at the table while the elves present made sure that everyone had something to drink while they took in the information that had been provided.

Like their daughter, the Drs Granger where a bit green at what they had just been told. They were also beginning to wonder at the sanity of magic users in general if they would even consider doing something like this.

The former Malfoys were of two minds on this. Narcissa was thinking how she could use this to help her new lord. Even though he was a Halfblood, her minor talent in aura reading was telling her that his power rivaled the Dark Lord's or even surpassed it. She could also see a dark shadow on it's outer edges though.

Draco, on the other hand, was wondering how he could use this new information to either hurt Potter or destroy him and take everything for himself. He was also wondering why the Golden Gryffindor was sharing this kind of information so freely. If Potter had done something like this in Slytherin, he would have been eaten alive the first time he did it.

"What is it," asked the bushy haired one as she moved to stand next to him.

"I have seen this thing before," responded Harry absentmindedly. "I know I have. I just can't remember where. Here, Hermione, take a look at it."

"Am I to understand," hissed Blacktar, "that you have seen this _ITEM_ before?"

Everyone in the room heard the stress on the word 'item'. Looking up, the lord of the manor just nodded his head.

"Um, yeah," Harry said with a faraway look in his eyes. "I think I saw something like this within the last few years. Come on, Harry, THINK!"

While everyone gathered around the table to take a closer look at the locket, Hermione had picked it up and was examining it in minute detail. Flipping it over and over in her hand, she suddenly let out a gasp as she remembered where she had seen something like it before.

"Headquarters," shouted the excited chocolate eyed brainiac. "It was at Headquarters! Last year, Harry, when we were cleaning out that room. Remember none of us could open it. Sirius chucked it into a bin, but I bet Kreacher took it back. He was always doing that."

With a quick hug and a kiss for his bushy haired know it all, the young Lord Black called for the House Elf in question. After calling for the insane House Elf a few more times, the elderly Elf finally appeared.

"Kreacher won't serve nasty, filthy Halfblood and his Mudblood slut," shouted the abused tea towel wearing House Elf. "Kreacher won't. Oh, Mistress bes turning in hers grave shes is. With filthy Halfblood taking over the Noble House of Black."

Before the elderly Elf could say anything more, Harry growled at it.

"Be quiet, Kreacher," commanded the slightly angry Lord Black.

The insane House Elf was suddenly quieted even though his mouth was still working.

"Good, now that I have your attention, Kreacher, I need your help with something. It is very important."

Picking up the fake Horcrux, Harry showed it to filthy tea towel wearing House Elf. None of them were ready for Kreacher's reaction upon seeing the locket. Before anyone could stop him, Kreacher let out a silent howl and dove for Harry's hand. Just as he was about to latch on to Harry's arm, the insane elf was pinned to the floor.

"YOU WILL NOT HARM THE MASTER," shouted an irate Dobby, who had his hands raised to shoulder level.

With a slight shake of head, the Head House Elf turned toward his master.

"Master Harry," called Dilly, "Kreacher is not well. Hes needs to be taken cares of. Wes will do it, Master Harry."

"That's alright," answered Harry as he stared down at the magically pinned Kreacher, "but I need to ask him some questions first."

Clearing his throat, the green eyed young Lord put on his most commanding voice and started his questioning of the House Elf.

"Kreacher," he commanded, "you will be silent and you will answer my questions honestly and without fail. Do you understand?"

Everyone could see that the insane Elf did not want to as he fought the House magic that forced him to comply with his Lord's will. Finally, the disheveled creature nodded his head, but everyone could see that he did not want to.

"Good," Harry said as he squatted down next to the prone Kreacher. "Now then, let's start. Why did you react that way to this locket?"

"Is Master Regulus'" hissed Kreacher as he glared hatefully up at his new master.

Narcissa gasped when she heard that name mentioned and her hand flew to her mouth. Glancing over at the aging beauty for a moment, Harry returned his attention to the prone House Elf. The wheels were turning in his head as he went over the last few minutes in his head. He then remembered that Sirius had said at one time that he had had a brother named Regulus.

"By Master Regulus, you mean Regulus Black, Sirius' brother, right?"

Again, Kreacher nodded his head.

Even though Harry was still angry with the lying House Elf, he moderated his tone a bit for the next question.

"Kreacher, I take it that you know where the real one is?"

"Master Regulus and Kreacher," started the now teary eyed Kreacher, "switched Master Regulus' locket with Bad One from Bad Watery Place. Bad One belong tos Dark Lord. Master Regulus commanded Kreacher tos destroy Bad One. Kreacher has failed his Master Regulus! Kreacher has failed tos destroy Bad One!"

"Whens Blood Traitors, Halfbloods filth and Mudbloods invades my Mistress' house and tries to take Bad One, Kreacher knows that hes must keep it safe sos hes can destroys it and make Master Regulus proud. Kreacher has tos destroys it!"

Sensing an opportunity to bargain with the vile House Elf, the young raven haired Lord Black decided to take the chance.

"Kreacher, I will make a deal with you. If you go get the real locket and bring back to me so I can have the Goblins destroy it, I will give you this one in return. You can have your Master Regulus' locket to keep forever. How does that sound?"

The change in attitude was instant in the tea towel wearing House Elf.

"Filthy Halfblood Master would gives Kreacher Master Regulus' locket to keeps if hes give filthy Halfblood Master Bad One? Yous gives Bad One to Gobliny People to destroy? Gobliny People can dos what Kreacher has failed to dos?"

"Yes, Kreacher," Harry said as he nodded his head in agreement, "to all of that. Is it a deal?"

The suddenly jubilant elderly House Elf shook his head yes so hard his large ears were flapping. With a slight pop, Kreacher disappeared from the room to go get the real Horcrux. He was back before it had even registered that the elderly Elf had even left.

The change in the room was instant, as everyone present could now feel a malevolent presence in the room. The light streaming into the room seemed faded and slightly unhealthy. The air became oppressive. With a hiss, the senior master Curse-Breaker known as Granite summoned the evil artifact into a heavily shielded bag that had been designed for just such a purpose. As soon as the locket was in the bag, the feeling of the room returned to normal.

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL WAS THAT," shouted a very disturbed looking John Granger.

"That, human," spat the still angry Blacktar, "is the result of a human wizard meddling with things best not meddled with."

"Blacktar," hissed his Goblin counterpart. "I know that you are angry at losing one of your own on this contract, but show some respect. Lord Potter here has the backing and the blessing of the Clan Chief of Clan Chiefs."

"HIS faulty information," growled the disgruntled Goblin Curse-Breaker as he pointed at Harry, "cost one of my men his life! He LIED to us! At the very LEAST he should be banned from Gringotts or having any contact the Goblin people ever again! He also should be FINED HALF of his vaults for his betrayal!"

"CONTROL yourself," hissed the more senior Curse-Breaker, his eyes narrowing, "Master Curse-Breaker Blacktar. The young Lord is not at fault in this and has agreed to pay the agreed upon fee if a death resulted from this contract. He also gave us the best information that he had at the time. While it is a major loss that one of your team members died, Fitzroy knew the risks and accepted them. Now for the last time, CONTROL YOURSELF!"

While the two Goblins were having their conversation, Harry had picked up the fake Horcrux from the table and turned to Kreacher.

"As we agreed," the young emerald eyed Lord Black said solemnly. "Here is your Master Regulus' locket. It is yours to keep, Kreacher."

Everyone in the room could see the change in the elderly House Elf as soon as Harry gave the locket to him. Instead of an aging depressed House Elf who had for the longest time thought that he had failed his wonderful Master, there was now a proud looking House Elf, standing tall. The attitude change was most prominent in his speech, especially towards Harry.

"The young Master," Keacher said in his gravely voice, "has done what Kreacher could not. Master Harry has made Kreacher happy."

Looking up at Harry, with tears in his aging eyes, Kreacher slowly put the chain around his neck.

"What would young Master Harry have Kreacher do?"

Kneeling down to the old Elf's eye level, Harry politely made his wishes known.

"First off, Kreacher," started the young multi-titled Lord, "from now on, you will not use any of the derogatory names that you have been using to describe Hermione, her parents, or myself. Understand?"

"Kreacher understands, Master Harry."

"Good. Next, you will treat everyone that comes to see me or to Grimmauld Place with respect. You are a House of Black House Elf, so please start acting like it. Remember, that this is a new House of Black, one that is changing from its Dark leanings. Sirius once told me that the House of Black used to be great, between us, we will make it great again."

"Also, I need you to start cleaning up Grimmauld Place. I have several House Elves that are currently underemployed. I need you to help me with that. Talk with Dilly and have some of them work with you in cleaning up the Black properties. Alright?"

"Yes, Master Harry, Kreacher will do."

Turning to Head Potter House Elf, made a slight bow to him and the two Head Elves vanished from the room with a slight pop.

"Now then," Harry said turning to the two Goblins in the room, "which ones are left?"

"Items three, five, and six," stated Granite.

Nodding, the young emerald eyed lord turned to Dobby.

"Dobby, could you go to my office and retrieve that sealed black box from the upper shelf behind my desk?"

"Dobby do," the hyper active House Elf said, bouncing up and down so hard his ears were flapping. Dobby was gone and back in about three seconds.

"Heres yous goes, Master Harry."

"Thank you, Dobby," Harry said smiling down at Dobby as his friend handed him the box.

Turning to the two Curse-Breakers in the room, Harry slid the box down the table to the more relaxed Goblin. The Master Curse-Breaker simply raised an eyebrow in question as the box slid into his claws.

"In there, you will find item number three. I retrieved it from Hogwarts just before the end of term. As to how I did it, I used a special feature of this house to do it. And if you will wait one moment, I can give you a better location on item six."

Curious as to how the young human lord could do this, Granite just nodded his head in acceptance.

Taking a deep breath, Harry also nodded and sat down in one of the chairs next to the table. Looking at Hermione and her parents, he gave them a wan smile.

"You might want to prepare yourselves, this will not be pretty."

Knowing what her recently restored memories were saying was her boyfriend, Hermione had an inkling of what he was about to do.

"Harry," the chocolate eyed young woman said in a questioning tone.

"It's alright, Hermione," Harry tried to reassure her. "It will be nothing that you haven't seen before, love."

With that, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Slowly releasing it, the young head of several houses opened his eyes. Instantly everyone noticed the faraway look in them. They also noticed that the famous scar on his forehead started to turn raw looking. The longer Harry stared off into space, the more raw looking the scar became.

After two minutes, the scar started leaking clear plasma and Harry's hands had a death grip on the arms of the chair. At the three minute mark, blood started trailing from the raw scar. Once the clock struck four minutes, blood was flowing freely from it.

Having seen this before, Hermione had rushed to Harry's side when the clear plasma had started leaking from the wound. When the blood had started flowing, she asked Winky to get her something to staunch the flow. Winky had popped away and quickly returned with a medical kit. This had prompted Sarah come out of her shock and help her daughter.

At the five minute mark, Harry finally came back to himself. Gasping for breath and shaking like he had been held under the pain curse for the entire time, he slowly got control of himself. Looking up into Hermione's worried eyes, he gave her one of his warm crooked smiles.

Turning towards the two Master Curse-Breakers, the pain filled young man gave them a hard appraising look.

"Item number six," Harry said in a pain filled raspy voice, "is currently sitting near the edge of the wards in the graveyard of Little Hangleton next to a broken tree. She will not be moving for awhile, because she just ate a small lamb. Remember, she is a bit more than Tom's familiar, so he might know if she is taken while she is awake."

"Also, she is aware of wards and can sort of see magic. She is currently just outside of the wards that Riddle has placed to keep her safe while she hunts. She went outside the wards this time because it was the only way that she could get some food."

Harry let out relived sigh as Hermione and Sarah worked on his seeping scar.

"Once you get her," stated the pained filled young lord, "how long will it take to setup the ritual?"

"If we can get her," started the impressed Granite, "within the few hours, we should be ready within three days. We will let you know when everything is ready, my lord."

At Harry's nod of understanding, the two Master Curse-Breakers gathered the box from the table and left. One heading back to the Gringotts and the other to assemble a team to get Nagini.

Feeling a tug on her sleeve, Hermione looked down to see Winky trying to hand her a potion.

"This wills help Master Harry, Mistress," the worried looking House Elf said while trying to shove the potion into Hermione's hand.

Thanking the helpful House Elf, the young bushy haired lady popped the lid off the bottle and forced her future husband as she now thought of him to drink it all. Everyone could see the almost immediate reaction the potion had on the young emerald eyed man, that being that his body sagged with relief as the pain slowly went away.

As the pain eased in Harry's body, a new one appeared on his cheek as Hermione slapped him hard then pulled him into a fearsome hug. Not knowing what else to do, he simply wrapped his arms around her waist and returned the hug.

"Um, what just happened," asked a confused Draco.

"Love just happened, my son," answered Narcissa with a longing smile. "It would seem that our future Lady knows what our lord just did and is showing him just how upset she is with him and how much she loves him."

Seeing confused looks coming from her son and the Drs Granger, the aging beauty continued.

"At a guess, I would say that Lord Black has some sort of connection with the Dark Lord and he has been using it to find out things. Like where those abominations are kept. Tell me, my son, have you seen this before?"

"A few times, Mother," the pale blonde boy said. "Most recently during the History of Magic O.W.L test. I have also seen it happen during other classes and at some mealtimes. I thought it just Lord Black playing it up."

As Draco said that, inside he was smiling thinking that he had just found out a way to get rid of his long time rival and take control of everything.

Narcissa was watching her son. She could see the wheels turning in his head. With a small shake of her head, she realized that he had not really learned his lesson from this morning's duel and would try to take advantage of this new information.

"Hang on a minute," the male Dr Granger stated with a confused look, "are you saying, Narcissa, that Harry has some sort of mental connection with mad man who tried to kill him as a baby? You can't be serious?"

"I most certainly am, John. It is the most logical answer that I can see."

"It's true, Daddy," piped up the upset young witch. "It's been affecting Harry since I've known him. When either Voldemort is near him or feeling a very strong emotion, Harry knows it. If it's really bad, his scar bleeds."

Looking down into Harry's expressive green eyes, the bushy haired one continued.

"Although this is the first time that I know of that he has willingly went into that murder's mind, and he will NOT be doing that again with out MY permission! Got it, mister?"

"Yes, dear," Harry said simply as male self preservation instincts kicked in.

Hermione gave him a huge smile, then she kissed him. Once the kiss was broken, Harry turned to look at Sarah and thanked her for her help in stopping the blood flow from his scar.

"Ah enough of this," the rejuvenated Harry said. "It's still early enough, so I will give you people a choice. We can either go down to the beach nearby or we can head into Naples and do some site seeing and maybe some shopping. What do you say?"

"Why, Mr. Potter," the chocolate eyed young lady said playfully, "is this your way of trying to get to see me in a bikini? Or are you just trying to make up for what you did a little bit ago?"

"Um," the suddenly tongue tied Lord Potter stated eloquently.

"SHOPPING," shouted the two adult females in the room. John quickly agreed, while glaring at Harry. Draco just shrugged his shoulders. He had to admit that he was a bit curious about the local Pureblood scene.

"Good. Now, let's get you added to the Library, then we can go."

After a quick letting of blood to add the chosen people to the Potter House Library, everyone followed Harry back out to the room that they had arrived in. Once there, the young multi titled lord grabbed a piece of rope from the shelf nearby and changed it into a Portkey. The six people then each took a bit of it and where whisked away in flash of light.

* * *

OK, I know a long break between chapters and I have yet to update Silence. All I can say is that I am becoming lazy and am studying for a Networking exam and worried if I will still be employed in the near future. That being said, I have the last two chapters all mapped out and planed in my head. I just have to actually write them down. Plus, pain sucks.

Later,

Wulf


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